The Stranger
by LittleMissYuki
Summary: The population has decreased in the past decade. As a result, the government passed a law. Anyone who has not been married by the age of 25 will be matched with a stranger. Pessimistic Levi gets matched with Hanji, a cautious yet loving individual. He must learn how to accept her as his wife. But, how will he do that when an accident reveals the truth about this Law? (Dystopian AU)
1. The Circle

I never believed in love. I never believed in marriage. I always thought that romance was just a stupid excuse.

 _"Sorry I'm late, my wife-"_

 _"My husband isn't doing so well, so I had to-"_

 _"I love her. Accept her for who she is or-"_

Love is an easy way out. It allows people to slide past real-world issues. Why should I care that your boyfriend proposed to you? Did he stop that man from shooting so many innocent people in the mall that day? Being romantic isn't a way of life. Love is a phase. A mental disorder. A virus in the brain. And ever since the recent drop in the population, romance has replaced its real skin with plastic. Which is even worse, considering what the government is doing.

A new law was passed. Anyone not married past the age of 25 shall be matched with a significant other who contains the same values, interests, and morals. Divorce has now been terminated. However, half the time these marriages don't even last a year and people separate anyway. I do not know what happens to those who separate. I heard rumors that men are taken away and have reproductive samples stolen from them, only to never be seen again. As for the women, I heard that the government impregnates them with the samples they stole. Once a baby is born, she is left to die in a chamber. Of course, I don't know if these are true. But if it is true... then something isn't right.

When I was little, this is how I imagined marriage: tears, arguments, bruises, and blood splatter. Fists, sharp objects, slamming noises, red, white, and blue flashing lights, the sound of sirens getting closer and closer. Every day I watched nature take its course. Sometimes I wondered how two rabid hyenas produced a small, worthless little roach who got stepped on every opportunity they had. I didn't understand the purpose of my existence.

Yet here I am, over twenty-five, neatly dressed, standing on a platform next to some priest, waiting for a stranger to walk down the aisle. There were more strangers watching me in the chairs before me. This was a church but the atmosphere was gloomy and eerie to me, as if I was being put on trial, awaiting to be judged. Those strangers sitting next to each other with stoic expressions on their faces were probably government officials who needed to witness this wedding in order for it to be accepted. I stared at the door at the end of the aisle and thought to myself. "Are they really doing this to me?"

Suddenly, the sound of an organ begins to echo off of the walls and the strangers stand up and face the exit. When the doors opened wide, a little girl holding a basket walked down first and threw rose petals on the floor. Then, two men in suits walked down the aisle while linking both arms of a woman draped in white silk. Behind her was a child, a boy, who carried a small black box. The two men guided the woman with the white silk covering her face onto the platform where I was and left her there in front of me. The boy then gave the priest the box and walked away.

The woman didn't say anything. She just stood perfectly still, like a statue, and faced me. I immediately wondered what she was thinking. "Just kill me now, why don't you?"

The organ eventually stopped playing and everyone sat back down. "We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's most greatest moments," The old priest began to speak. "And to cherish the words that will unite these two children of God, who have not been given a chance to do so."

Children of God? Since when were we children of God?

The priest smiles and lifts up the woman's silk, and revealed her face. I looked at the woman who locked eyes with mine. She was indeed beautiful, and had brown hair that touched her shoulders. Her skin was fair and had glasses over her eyes. But, she was in shock. She wasn't even surprised or happy to finally meet me. There was fear in her brown eyes- and not of me, but of something else.

And for a decent looking girl, I'm rather surprised that she has yet to be married.

"Will you two state your names so that it will forever be embedded in your memory?" The priest then asked. He gestured for the woman to speak first. She didn't look anywhere else. She just stared at me. There was silence until the priest asked once again. Soon, the woman blinked and opened her mouth. "...Hanji." Her voice was puny... but warm. When the priest looked at me, I quickly searched for my voice. "It's... its Levi."

"Levi and Hanji," The priest cried, almost startling the woman. "This ceremony is a blessing. A gift sent from the heavens. This ceremony will create a relationship that may not exist between you two just yet. However, with time, the both of you will grow stronger as individuals, and as forever partners... you may even discover a hidden bond. After all, this is God's plan." The priest then opened the box he had in his hands and took out what looked like a stamp. But this stamp had tiny needles on it. I expected rings, but clearly this was something entirely new.

The old man turned to me and asked for my wrist. I was hesitant, and I didn't want to do this anymore, but I knew I had to listen. So, I showed him my wrist and pulled my sleeve back to show my skin. Then, he continued. "Levi, do you promise to care, cherish, and love this woman, and sacrifice everything, including yourself, to keep her safe for as long as you live?" How can I promise such a thing if I just met her? This system makes no sense. This isn't God's plan. Why would he say such a thing? That's like saying "it was my plan for you to go to jail and get violated by inmates."

I came back to reality when I realized that I was taking long to answer. I don't want to do this. But I don't want to deal with the government either. Ugh... might as well see how it goes. We're already here, so might as well answer this fraud. "I promise." Perhaps I'm over exaggerating, but I felt as if my soul has now escaped my body. As if I signed a pact or something.

The priest then turns to Hanji, and I could have sworn that I saw her flinch. "Hanji, do you promise to care, cherish, and love this man, and sacrifice everything, including yourself, to keep him safe for as long as you live?" He asked, and waited for her to answer. She swallowed, glanced at him, then at me, and then at the crowd. She was probably thinking about this entire thing. Hanji was torn; get married to a stranger? Or refuse to make a promise and deal with authority? She had a choice, but no voice to say otherwise. In her mind, I could only imagine the voices telling her what to do and what not to do, all at the same time.

The woman faced me. "I..." She stuttered, and then cleared her throat. "I promise." With that, the priest smiled and took a hold of my wrist and stuck the stamp with the small needles on the bottom, into my skin. Pain filled my entire arm and I tried not to cringe. He took Hanji's wrist and did the same thing to her. Even though it started to bleed, the punctures on our wrists were in the shape of a circle. I remember seeing the same thing on my parents.

The priest then announced, "By the power invested in me, in the name the Father, and in the name of the law, I now pronounce you both husband and wife." He begins to clap, and so does the crowd watching us. I watch the crowd stand row by row, clapping their hands as if a concert has ended.

I'm married. An idea that I've hated for so long finally became a reality. It's unfair. I look over at Hanji, and I noticed how sad she looked while she stared at the bleeding circle on her wrist. She must have been through much worse than I have.

She doesn't deserve this. Not one bit.


	2. The Dance

Before I was matched, I did my research.

In order to make the matching process work out properly, the government has to plan and arrange the wedding themselves. They pick a venue, spend money on decorations and make people choose between clothes to wear for the ceremony. They research family members based on their status and invite whoever they seem fit. If a person doesn't have many family members, the government assigns what they call "Extras", to fill in the empty space. These people can range from any age and can supposedly act very well. Among the Extras are individuals called the Witnesses, who have to be at the wedding and write down every single thing that happens. After the whole event is finished, newlyweds were required to produce at least two children in a matter of two years to be considered fully married. If things don't go as planned, things could get ugly.

Of course, none of our family members were chosen to attend. I simply didn't have enough. I wasn't sure about Hanji, but even then it was still obvious because she hasn't said a word ever since the priest made it official. She sat next to me, staring blankly into space. The crowd of Extras walked back and forth and talked to each other while classical music played in the background. Nobody came up to congratulate us. We were only served fancy food and drinks. A tall, white cake sat a few inches left of me, and it had a miniature statue of a newly-wed couple. The reception was supposed to last for three hours, but it already felt like decades. I tried to eat as much as I could without throwing up and smashing a plate into someone's head. As for Hanji, she hadn't eaten at all. Her food was getting cold. She didn't even drink the sparkling water. I wondered what was going on inside her head. Did she hate me? Did she want to leave? Did she want to kill every single person in the room? Who knows? As much as I didn't want to care, I felt like I had to. Because after all, she was my wife.

"Hey," I called. Hanji didn't even look at me, so I tapped her shoulder. "You should eat."

She turned her head to stare at me, but still said nothing. So I sighed.

"It's better to eat now while you can," I said.

Hanji finally came to life. She blinked and glanced at her food. "Why should I?"

"You can speak. Holy shit." I exclaimed.

Hanji shook her head and looked at the crowd again. "You shouldn't curse. They're on the lookout for bad behavior."

"What am I, five? They can kiss my ass."

Hanji glanced at me, and then looked down at her lap with a sad face. Perhaps I offended her. "Look," I said in a soft voice. "Sorry, okay? I guess it's my way of making light of the situation."

"'Making light of the situation?'" Hanji narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm married to a stranger. I don't know who you are, Levi. How can you make light of that?"

"I'm in the same position you are in."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am. I know exactly how you feel."

"No you don't," Hanji said, shaking her head again. "You don't know half of it."

I thought for a moment. She was right. I didn't know her at all. I felt as if she didn't trust me; or any one for that matter. But that isn't her fault. I couldn't necessarily trust her either, but I could at least tell that she was genuine. "Fine. But you should at least try to cheer up." I eyed one particular person who was walking by a little too close to us. Hanji noticed him and nodded.

The sound of a small bell caused everyone in the room to fall silent. A woman holding a glass of champagne walked to the middle of the floor and everyone else surrounded her. "Welcome everyone," She began to speak with a smile on her face. "Today we are celebrating the beautiful marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman!" When she said that, everyone else started clapping. Hanji just cringed in disgust. When the applause faded out, the woman continued her speech. "I am so happy that I got to experience the beginning of a new chapter. You both have a long future ahead of you, and I wish you nothing but good fortune. Here is a toast to a long, exciting journey of love!" The woman raised her glass and so did everyone else who repeated her last sentence. It was extremely odd, having strangers toast to your unwanted, forced marriage. And this wasn't love. This was business.

"Now it is time for you two to have your first dance together!" The woman said to us with a sing-song voice. I blinked and looked at Hanji, who did the same. I did not want to dance with her. How could this possibly work out? I wanted to lie to the woman, saying that I had a lack of dance skills. But if I refused, that would mean big trouble. That was what the system did to us. They scared us into doing what they wanted us to do. The put fear into our minds and controlled us as if we were slaves. This wasn't natural, nor was it a way of life. This was just their way of filling in the empty population gap and make money off of us. And the poor woman sitting to the right of me has to suffer with the mindset that she has to give birth in order to be considered acceptable.

I glanced at the same man who was walking too close to us. He glared at me with hostile eyes and wrote something down in his notebook. I sighed and took Hanji's hand. "Come on. Let's get this over with." I told her as I stood up. Hanji cautiously stood up from her seat with me, and we made our way to the middle of the floor and then faced each other. "I can't do this," Hanji whispered.

"Just hold on to my shoulders. I'll do the rest." I replied.

Hanji reluctantly put both hands on my shoulders and was almost afraid to look at anyone else. I put my hands on her waist, even though I didn't want to touch her there. I turned to the man again, the Witness, who continued to glare at me. What was his problem, I thought. Suddenly, slow music began to play. The entire room was silent and all eyes were on us. Their stares burned right through Hanji and I. We began to dance together and stepped carefully. Hanji didn't understand how to do it, but she got the idea after a while. We slowly dance all around the floor to the sad-like music. When we went toward the crowd surrounding us, I noticed the same little girl who threw petals on the floor. She watched us as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Why was she crying?

"Levi?" Hanji caught my attention.

"What is it?"

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" She asked.

I was almost hesitant to answer. "Well... my mother taught me. When I was little."

"Wow," Hanji looked at the floor.

"I see you've never learned." I said.

My wife nodded and moved her hair out of her face. "I wanted to... but nobody would let me."

"Why's that?" I wondered.

Hanji just shrugged and said nothing.

"Well, if anything, consider this as your first lesson." I reassured her. But her expression only saddened even more. I watched her eyes fill up with water. "But it's not the same," she simply said. Somehow, I felt her pain. But I couldn't tell if it was the pain of loss, rejection, or trauma. I could only feel it inside of me. We were connected in some way, and I was afraid to find out.

The song which seemed like it had been playing for years, had finally ended. Hanji let go of me, wiped her eyes and walked away while the Extras clapped her hands. I was about to go find her again, when the same woman who made the toast came up to me and gave me a hug out of random, saying how much of a good job we did. She then asked where my wife went. I didn't answer her and moved her aside so I could look for Hanji. I went into the hallway and saw her walking down. I wanted to call her over, but the words didn't come out. She was upset about something, and I wanted to know what the matter was. However, I felt it was best to leave her alone. So I went back into the reception room and sat down.

It was going to be a long day.


	3. The Promise

**AN: Thank you all so much for the support so far! You guys make me so happy! :)**

I was young when I found out how my parents met. It was always this big secret of theirs that needed to be hidden away from me. But one day, I noticed a circular scar on my mom's wrist and I asked her about it. At first, I thought it was the result of her daily beatings. However, she told me exactly how and when she got that scar in full detail without an issue. She told me that one day I will have to do the same thing. She warned me to find a girl who loved me before I turn twenty-five, so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes. But I never did.

Growing up, love was non-existent in my house. I remember being described as a happy child. I used to say good morning to everything in my room. I used to give my mother a hug whenever she was sad, and draw pictures for my father whenever he was angry. My mother was pure of heart; she made sure I was healthy, made sure I was getting good grades, and loved me more than anything in the world. She had always wanted to have a child with the right man. Unfortunately, she could never find her prince charming and was matched with my father. My mother was ecstatic when she found out she was pregnant. My father, on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with me.

My father's side of the family was very rich, but he never wanted to share his wealth with a woman. We lived in a big house with high ceilings and a huge backyard that I used to run around in. I used to believe that my home was a safe haven. But little five-year-old me didn't realize the stress I was supposedly putting on my father.

Five-year-old me.

A little thing I was. An annoying little pest. An outspoken, spoiled brat. That's what my father and his side of the family called me. At five years old, I discovered his true personality when he began to spend his money on drinks that would cause him to turn into a monster. At five years old, I learned that I wouldn't be a big brother anymore because the doctors took him away. At five years old, my mother stopped tucking me in at night. At five, I noticed now many bruises were on her body. As I grew, the arguments increased in severity. It happened so often that I eventually got used to it. It was common to hear thumping and slamming. I never cried when it happened- I just listened. I waited for it to end so that I can show love to my parents again, just like I've always done.

But one night, I received a message. The message was so clear, so painful, and so brutally honest, that I realized my existence meant nothing to my parents. I only made things worse.

 _"I am not your dad, Levi. Fuck off."_

It was a message that left a mark on my face. And I went to my mother, in need of love, but she pushed me away just as my father did. She now had a mindset that loving me would cause her physical pain. I had to live with that for as long as I lived in that house. When I moved out, I hated everyone. I didn't want to be bothered. I never called my parents to see how they were doing. I never knew what happened to them. I secluded myself from everyone so that I wouldn't have to deal with issues. For the first time in a long time, I was at peace.

Until the government came after me.

And then along came Hanji. I never imagined the thought of marrying a stranger after my past experiences. I didn't want to be an exact replica of my father and hurt my wife. I knew I had to be careful.

When the reception had finally ended, I was escorted outside. The Extras made their way out behind me. I didn't get to find Hanji again, because she was gone for the rest of the reception. I was brought to a car and was asked to get inside. When I did, the man slammed the door shut right in my face. "Dick," I spat. I sighed and sat back, just about ready to go home. I noticed something white that caught my eye to the left of me. I turn my head, and there she was. Hanji had already been found and was sitting there with her seat belt on, looking defeated. "There you are," I said with surprise.  
"Alive and breathing." Hanji replied.  
"What happened? Why did you leave?"  
"I don't know. Why didn't you find me?" The woman asked, obviously annoyed.  
"I was going to find you." I told her.  
"But you didn't."  
"Did I do something to you?"  
"Can you _please_ do me a favor and stop talking?" Hanji asked rather softly, despite the angst in her words. So I did what she asked and said nothing. The whole car ride was complete silence. I watched as the church we got married in went farther and farther until it was no longer in sight. The sky was covered in clouds and trees zoomed by. I saw my reflection and then looked at what I was wearing. Soon I found myself staring at Hanji, who had her head toward the window. What was she thinking, damn it?

What was the driver thinking, even? I wanted answers. Then it hit me. Where were we even going? I decided to ask the driver and sat up to get close to him. "Excuse me?" I said. No answer. Hanji turned to see what I was doing. I raised my voice. "Hello? Driver? Where are we going?"  
"Home." He simply said.  
"Where's home?"  
"Your home. Those are the rules."  
" _My house_? Why?"  
"You ask a lot of questions." The driver said. I wanted to knock his ass out and throw him out of the car and drive so I run him over. But I remembered that there was another person in the car. So I did nothing.

"Didn't you already know, Levi?" I hear Hanji ask. "When someone gets married... their supposed to live in the husband's house from then on."  
I sit back and face her. "Well isn't that some sexist shit."  
"It's not sexism. It's tradition."  
"Tradition would be you your last name converting into mine. This isn't tradition."

Hanji eyed me, sending me the message that there was a driver in the car who could use my words against me and report it. "What? It's the truth." I said.  
"Whatever you say, Levi."  
"What happens to your home? Does it get sold to someone else?" I wanted to know.  
"I don't know." She shrugged and looked out of the window again. "Whatever they do to it... I have no other choice but to let them."  
"Sometimes we have to let things go," I said truthfully. "But that doesn't mean we should stay silent."

Hanji blinked and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Who are you, Levi?"  
"Me?" I shrugged and folded my arms, and watch the houses passing by. "I'm just a stranger." I heard what sounded like a giggle, which turned into a soft laugh. She laughed at me for the first time. I didn't know what it meant at the time. But I knew it was going to bring something to the table, eventually.

When we finally came home, Hanji studied my house as if she'd never seen one before. It was a big house, and had a huge front lawn. We walked inside and she was amazed at how high the ceilings were, and how beautiful my kitchen was and how classy my furniture looked. She couldn't help herself and went to try out my old piano sitting in front of the huge window in the living room. When I moved out of my parent's, I took half of my father's money and bought this house. I felt that doing so would put their ass at a hardship. I took my jacket off and put it on a chair, when I heard Hanji tell me, "Your house is beautiful."  
"It's nothing much, really." I replied.  
"Nothing much? You have a piano. That's something."  
"That thing has been sitting there for years. I can't play it at all."

Hanji kept pressing the keys out of random, and enjoyed how they sounded. "You should learn," She said.  
"Maybe someday. Let me show you around so you don't get lost." I told her sarcastically. I brought her around the house, showing her where everything is and where each room was. Then, we went upstairs and I showed her my room. "Oh yeah," I remembered. "Some moving company came over and put your shit in here. You don't have to walk around in that dress forever now, at least." Hanji's eyes immediately lit up and she ran to the closet. She found all of her clothes in there and all of her jewelry in the drawer next to my bed. All of her more personal items were boxed under my bed as well, and she made sure all of it was there. I thought she was literally about to cry. "My stuff... I thought it was all gone..."  
"Go ahead, make yourself at home. I'll be downstairs. Whenever you're ready, just... come down, I guess." I said and went for the door. She watched me leave and I closed the door behind me.

I went downstairs, walked to the living room and sat on the sofa. I was finally alone again. It was perfectly quiet and I just wanted to sleep. I still couldn't believe the events of today. I took a look at the circular scar on my wrist, which was still pretty fresh and touched it with my other hand. I immediately thought of my mother and what she told me. "'Don't wait. Find a girl who loves you,'" I whispered to myself.

 _"Don't be like mommy."  
"Why?"  
"Remember how I used to tell you to never talk to strangers, Levi?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Well... mommy wants to keep you safe. So don't make the same mistakes I did. Strangers are bad, bad people. They will hurt you. They will make you cry. They will make you sick. And mommy doesn't want that. Promise me?"  
"I promise..."_

"'Marry her. And love her like I love you.'" I whispered again as the memory played out in my head. Then, a rush of anger filled my body. I shook my head, stood up, and grabbed the pillow beside me and threw it hard. It hit the picture frame hanging on the wall and it fell on the floor. I paced around the living room, covering my face. I made a promise to my mother and broke it by making a promise to a priest who did what would have broken my mother's heart. I made a mistake, but was it really my fault? Unfortunately, I couldn't run away from the law. And I definitely couldn't run away from my broken home. What was I to do?

"Hey, Levi?" I heard Hanji and saw her on the balcony, wearing a white robe. "I don't know how to turn your water on. Can you show me please?"  
I took a breath and nodded. I didn't want her to see me angry. "Oh... sure."

I went up the steps and let Hanji follow me to the bathroom so I can show her how to turn the bathtub faucet on. When I did, the sound of water filled the bathroom and I stood up again. "There you go," I said. When I turned around, I saw Hanji quickly take her robe off and she revealed her bare chest. I rapidly shielded my eyes. "Jesus Christ Hanji! What are you doing?!" I yelled.  
"I-I thought this is what you wanted."  
"What?!"  
I couldn't see her, but I knew Hanji was blushing. "I-isn't this what all men want?"  
"Are you fucking crazy?! That isn't necessary! Put your robe back on! I'm leaving!" I blindly made my way out of the bathroom and slammed the door closed. Holy shit, I thought. I just got married and already I'm seeing a woman's breasts. I was positive that the image would be haunting me for the rest of the day.

I sat in the living room again, trying my best to get the image to disappear. It didn't take Hanji very long to do what she had to do, and eventually, I heard her walk down the stairs. I was almost afraid to look up again because I feared that she was going to be completely naked. But I felt her sit next to me. "Sorry," I heard her voice. I glanced at her and she was, indeed, wearing clothes. "It's fine," I said.  
"I figured I was supposed to do it. Because, you know... the laws." Hanji admitted.  
I was right. "Well... just understand that you don't have to. I'm not like them. I won't rush you or make you do anything like that. You don't even have to sleep with me."  
My wife nodded. "Okay. But... can I ask you something though?"  
"What is it?"  
" _Were_ you turned on? I'm just curious." Hanji asked.

I gave her a disgusted look. I didn't know how to answer that question. "Who are you, Hanji?" I questioned.  
She just smiled. "Just a stranger."


	4. The Town

I was surrounded by darkness, until I found a distant illumination. I followed the bright ray of light in my dreams until I reached a gateway that led to the real world. When I opened my eyes, everything was there in its place. It was quiet, just as I liked. Last night I had made the decision to sleep on the sofa in the living room and I let Hanji sleep by herself in my room. When night came, she made it very clear to me that she had no problem if I slept with her, but I knew deep inside that she was lying. So I just left her alone. And even though sleeping on the sofa was less comforting than what I had imagined, I didn't mind it all.

It was a brand new morning, which officially marked the first day of my assigned marriage. I almost forgot about it, but the memories quickly came back to me as I woke up. I did not want them to. Memories are supposed to be good, but in this case, mine were just plain weird. And scary. Really scary... but not like horror movies. It's scary because I was being forced to remember them. I was being forced to remember something that I had no intention of doing. The scar on my wrist still ached, and it was an unpleasant reminder of who I was:

A slave.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Although I _felt_ well rested, some part of me wanted to remain asleep for the remainder of time itself. Perhaps it was my condition messing with me again like it always did. But surprisingly, it wasn't too early in the morning. It was close to noon. So I stood up and began to fold the blanket I used to keep myself warm. All of a sudden I began to think about Hanji. What was she up to, I thought? She was probably still sleeping.

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

The high-pitched smoke detector pierced my ears and I jumped. I immediately dropped the blanket when I heard a crash and I ran to the kitchen. I pushed the door open and smoke filled my lungs. But there was no fire; instead, Hanji was there, standing on a chair with a paper plate in her hands, trying to blow the smoke away. "What did you do?" I cried.  
"I'm sorry! I-I was making something and it burned!" I heard her shout over the alarm.  
"Yeah, I can tell!" I surveyed the kitchen for the source of the smoke and found burning pancakes on the stove. I switched the power off and quickly moved the burning pan to a cool side so that it can calm itself. I then told Hanji to get down. When she did, I stood on the chair and reached up to the smoke detector and pushed a button that shut it off. "There," I said with relief as I carefully stepped down from the chair. When I turned to Hanji, she became flustered and went to her knees. "I'm so sorry, Levi! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to make a mess!"  
I rolled my eyes and told her to get up. "It's fine. You scared the shit out of me, but its fine." I told her, even though the thought of cleaning this mess up would be pretty tedious. Hanji stood up to her feet, but still looked guilty. "I just wanted to make breakfast for us," She admitted. "But now you know the truth... I'm not very good at it."  
"I see... you probably left it sitting too long. Accidents happen."  
"I should be ashamed of myself!" Hanji exclaimed, stomping her foot in frustration. She was beating herself up over something so minimal.  
"Why are you so ashamed?" I asked.  
"Because," Hanji sighed. "I'm supposed to know this shit!"  
I shook my head and had enough of her nonsense. "Hanji, what is with you? How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to follow them in their footsteps?"  
"Who?"  
"Others! The ones who _make_ the decision to follow those idiotic rules and norms!"  
She was speechless for a moment, and I waited for an answer. "I just..." She paused.  
"Well?"  
"I... I don't want to fail."  
"What?" I was confused. "What are you going to fail at? Being human?"

Hanji shook her head and lowered her voice. "You just wouldn't understand."  
"Understand what, Hanji? Speak to me."  
"Nothing." Hanji refused. I wanted to know what she was thinking. She did this while we were dancing together at the reception, and she was doing it again at this very moment. She was clearly hiding something, and I wanted to find out what it was. But she was obviously too frustrated with herself, so I decided to leave it alone. I took a breath and looked around. "Well... let's just eat out, for now."  
"Really? Right now?"  
"Yeah... it'll take us forever to clean this up."  
"I don't want to spend your money." Hanji said.  
I looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Did I _ask?_ "

She just blinked at me. "Fine then... I'll get ready."

Despite the harsh rules of the government and their leader, the town I lived in was quite lively. It was a small, quiet town yet there were plenty of things to do and to go. I walked with Hanji down the clean streets where there were plenty of shops and restaurants that people came in and out of. The children walked right next to their parents with ice cream in their hands and smiles on their faces. The sun was high and the clouds were little in quantity. It was like a miniature city, this town. I lived in it ever since I moved out of my parents'. Therefore, I know just about everything when it comes to this place.

I assumed that Hanji had never been to such a town, because she could not stop staring in awe. She stopped at every store so she could look through the glass to see what was on display. Eventually, we decided to eat breakfast at a cafe and sat outside with the rest of the customers. Hanji listened for the cars passing by and the bells on the handlebars of bicycle and the birds chirping in the sky. The waitress came over to us and served us coffee after giving us menus. "I love it here," Hanji decided. "But it seems so high class here! I would never be able to keep up."  
I nearly choked on my coffee. " _High class?_ Please. This is nothing special."  
"I think so. Besides, this coffee is delicious! It tastes like it came from the heavens. Where else can you find coffee this good?"  
" _Coffee shops,_ " I answered. "With highly-trained baristas."  
"Very funny." Hanji grinned.

When the waitress came back, we ordered what we wanted to eat, and she left after writing it down. The waitress was tall, dark-skinned and had long wavy hair. Her body was perfectly toned and her voice was soft like an angel's. "She's so pretty," Hanji sighed, not being able to keep her eyes off the woman.  
I gave her a baffled look. "I mean, if you like her, by all means-"  
"No, not like that, stupid." Hanji said in a sharp tone. "She's just really pretty to me. I envy her."  
"What do you envy about her?"  
My wife shrugged. "She's gentle. And kind."  
"You already have those qualities, no?" I asked as I took another sip of my coffee.  
"I wish." Hanji frowned and looked at the table.

"That's it," I cried and put my hands together after nearly slamming the cup on the table. "We're married now... so I'm pretty sure we have to learn more about each other. And today seems like a great time to do so."  
"So...?"  
" _You_ are going to tell me about yourself."  
"Right _now_?!" Hanji stuttered.  
I nodded. "Yup. Right now."  
"I..." She shook her head. "I can't."  
"Why not?"  
"Because..."  
"That's not a reason, Hanji."  
"How about _you_ tell me about _yourself,_ _first?_ " Hanji threw it right back at me. I sighed and hesitantly agreed to go first. "Fine. I guess I'll go first. I never wanted to get married. I always thought it was stupid. There was a time when I once thought it was important to find ' _the one',_ but... my parents messed that up for me. Big time."  
"What happened...?" Hanji was suddenly curious.  
"Let's just say... I didn't have the best experiences when I was younger."  
"What do you mean by that?" Hanji asked curiously.

I didn't want to tell her, but I started this conversation. So I opened my mouth and kept in minimal. I told her about life while I was growing up, what happened to my mother, and who my father was. I told her of how my father's side if the family was rich and how greedy he was, refusing to sacrifice his money for a family. And how he had to spend it either way when I was born. I told her most of my story while Hanji leaned on her hands. She stared deep into my eyes and focused on what I was saying for the entire time. She was a good listener, I thought. "Wow," Hanji said with sympathy. "I'm so sorry... you were in so much pain..."

I shake my head. "It's not a big deal. Sometimes I don't even think about it anymore."  
"Did you buy that huge house to make them feel bad for you? Was that the purpose?" My wife asked. I knew she was going to ask about my house again. "No," I replied and looked around. I wasn't the type to scheme on others. I didn't move because I simply wanted everything to myself. I glanced back at Hanji and spoke to her the truth. "I just wanted to get the fuck away from them."

The waitress nearly startled Hanji when she came up from behind and set the food down before her. After the waitress served me, she smiled. "Please enjoy!"  
"Thank you." We both said in unison.  
The waitress remembered something and leaned over the table so we could hear her. "Also... congratulations on your marriage." And then she left. Hanji and I were both wearing long sleeved sweaters, for it was chilly outside. Therefore the waitress could not see our scars that symbolized our union. How did she possibly know? Was someone else spying on us? It truly freaked us out.

I shook it off, for I didn't think it was important at the moment. "Anyway... it's your turn, Hanji."  
"My turn for what?" Hanji tilted her head.  
"You know what."  
"Oh," She remembered and then started playing with her food. "I mean... I _could_ tell you after we eat. I'm hungry."  
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah right." I knew she was refusing to speak about herself.  
"I'm being honest!"  
"Fine. But remember what you said." I said and began eating. In the corner of my eye I saw Hanji shrink into her chair in nervousness.

We left the cafe full and satisfied. I could tell that Hanji enjoyed herself because she had sparkles in her eyes. She loved everything about this town. Maybe it was the attitude of the people that made her feel comfortable. Whatever it was... it was better than being Downtown.

 _Anywhere but Downtown._

We walked all the way home while we chatted about many simple but silly things, like what our favorite animal or color was. I learned everything but Hanji's personal story. I mean, it's not like I cared or anything... but I told her my story first. The least she could do was return the favor. I just wanted to understand her. That was all. We eventually approached the house and walked to the front yard. I immediately searched for my keys and pulled them out of my pocket. Hanji frowned and grew a suspicious look on her face. She cautiously walked toward the front door and discovered something. "Levi." She called. I looked up and approached her. "What is it?" I asked.  
"Did you leave the door open?"  
"No..." I touched the front door and it creaked open. I cursed in my head and told Hanji to stay behind me. I took out a small pocket knife that I had been hiding in my sweater, and Hanji widened her eyes. "You had a knife on you?!" She cried in disbelief.  
"Shh! Never mind that!" I replied sharply and went inside. I always kept it with me for situations like these. I cautiously walked around my house, listening for anyone who might have broken in. All of my stuff was on the floor as if there was a really big party. Hanji nervously followed behind me as I searched the house. We went to my room upstairs. Everything was trashed, but it was all still here... everything except Hanji's jewelry and valuables. "We were robbed," I concluded.  
"My stuff!" My wife went to the spot where her most prized possessions once were and she fell to her knees. Tears began to appear in her eyes. "It's all gone!"  
"I'm going to call the police." I said, pissed off.  
"What will _they_ do?"  
"Use this as evidence to find the bastard who did this."  
"If so... I want whoever did this found and punished heavily. _Heavily!_ " Although there were tears in her eyes, Hanji was furious. I just shook my head and looked for the phone.

"We all do."


	5. The Difference

**A/N: THIS IS A RE-WRITE! SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN RE-POST! I DIDN'T LIKE HOW I MADE THIS BEFORE, BUT ITS BETTER NOW! ENJOY~ :)**

"What do you mean you can't help us?!" I angrily asked the police officer standing before Hanji and I, while his two partners observed the evidence in my house.  
"I'm sorry, but without a witness we can't call this a case." The officer said as he wrote something down on his notepad. He was a tall man with a muscular build and had neatly combed blond hair. Although neat, his eyebrows looked as if they needed some waxing. I had just called the police and twenty minutes had passed by. During that time, I was telling him what my wife and I came home to. Yet, this officer seemed like he didn't want to bring justice to two innocent civilians. "A witness?" I asked, puzzled and annoyed. "We were robbed!"  
"I understand. But if nobody saw what was happening, then an event like this is presumed to be a lost cause."  
"So you're calling me a liar?"  
The officer sighed. "No. But it isn't our responsibility to fetch items that have been stolen. Our job is to make sure that nobody was hurt. Only then will we call it a case." When he stopped speaking, Hanji put a hand on her forehead as if she was lightheaded and looked at the floor. She was clearly in disbelief. "I'm sorry... I need some air. Excuse me." She said and made her way outside.

I narrowed my eyes and grew irritated. I could not believe what I was hearing. "So tough luck then? Is that what you're saying?"  
"You are upset. I understand. But we aren't responsible for material items. Besides... knowing your records, I'm pretty sure all of it is replaceable."  
I now felt like I was being discriminated against. "It isn't about material items, _Smith_ ," I shouted before reading his name tag. "Someone fucking broke into _my_ house, invaded _my_ privacy, and took _my_ property! On top of that, my wife will now be emotionally scarred because of it! Since when is it okay to have thieves running around stealing other peoples shit?!"  
"Careful now," Smith told me with hostility in his voice. "You _do_ realize who you're talking to, don't you?"  
I didn't say anything. Instead, I processed my thoughts. None of this was making any sense. I was positive that he didn't care about this incident for the simple fact that I had money to spare. But I wasn't even rich! Sure, I was raised in a wealthy family, but that didn't make me high class. Nice things do not equal wealth. They only symbolize hard work. And whoever believes otherwise is nothing but a fraud.

I took a deep breath and faced Mr. Smith again, my arms folded. "What should I do then?"  
"I recommend installing an alarm system. One that will advise you that someone is breaking in while you are not home. It will also force the intruder to run away from your house out of fear."  
"Fine. Understood."  
The officer put a hand on my shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Don't be upset. I'm sure you and your wife will figure something out." Smith turned and told his partners that it was time to go. I followed behind him and watched them drive away. "It's a shame, isn't it?" I heard Hanji's voice. She was sitting on the steps near the front door, staring blankly at nothing in particular. "Someone just robbed us and all we got was a shrug..."  
"This is going too far. I will not be responsible for something I didn't do. I will be reporting this."  
"You won't be able to fight the system, Levi." Hanji said with no emotion. "It's better to leave it as it is."  
"Are you kidding me? He just discriminated me. Did you not hear him? Once I report this fucker, I'll beat his ass-"  
"Levi, stop!" My wife suddenly stood up as if what I said startled her. I faced her, and she grabbed my shoulders. "Do not say things like that! You cannot fight the authority. Nobody goes above the law. If you do, they will take you away!"

I turned away from her. I didn't understand why she was so afraid of me fighting for what is right. Sure, things have changed tremendously when it comes to our current society. But the rumors about being taken away and punished for bringing justice was brainwashing her. And I refused to let gossip change who I was. "You can't be serious," I then told her calmly. "There's no proof that they'll punish me."  
"I am serious! You need to believe me." My wife cried.  
"They're just trying to get inside your head. Just as the officer did today."  
"I heard him, Levi. He wanted you to be careful with your words. Does that not tell you anything?"  
"Then what do you suppose we do, Hanji?" I raised my voice again. "Do you not want to find this crook?"  
"Of course I do..." Hanji nodded and didn't know what else to say.

I took a moment to think about what happened today, until I remembered something. When we were at the cafe, the waitress who served us somehow knew we were married. In fact, now that I think about it, that waitress had been acting very suspicious. After she served us, the woman turned away and sped inside as if she was hiding something. I also remember her glancing at us while she talked to her co-worker. When I had looked back, she quickly left again. I didn't think anything of it, which is why I didn't say anything at first.

Then an idea came to mind. "The waitress that served us today. Do you remember how she congratulated us?" I asked my wife who nodded and waited for my point. I continued, "How did she know that we were newlyweds? Usually people like her would say how nice a couple are together. But this woman... I think she somehow played a role in this."  
"You _think_. But you don't _know_... perhaps she can tell the difference between newlyweds and couples who have been together for years... you never know." Hanji shrugged and rubbed her arm. I shook my head and went inside for a moment to get my keys that I left on the living room table. Before my wife could ask me what I was doing, I came back outside and closed the front door even though the lock was broken due to forced entry. "Come on." I said as I walked down the lawn and to the side of the house where the garage was. Surprisingly, it didn't look like it was broken into. I opened the garage door and revealed my car. "Where are we going?" Hanji asked, curious.  
"We're going to get an alarm system. And cameras. I'm not letting this slide." I went inside my car and turned it on while Hanji carefully came into the passenger seat. I waited for her to put her seat belt as the engine hummed. "Ready to go?" I asked, and she nodded without looking at me.  
"What's the matter now, Hanji?" I questioned, for she was playing the silent game again.  
"Nothing... you just have a nice car." She simply said.

She's weird, I thought. Very weird.

The only store in my town which always had things for the house, did not have anything I needed. I asked the manager of when they will restock again and he simply said that they wouldn't anytime soon. So I had no other choice but to drive down town. Down town is where the city was and where the majority of people lived. They had almost every store available to the people. It's a place where I was raised, and where my parents where brainwashed. When I moved out I made a vow to never go back there, but I guess promises have to break sometimes. The second reason why I hated going down there was because of the drive itself.

But it wasn't heavy with traffic. In fact, there were barely any people driving. The highway was long and wide, and I drove as trees, road signs and billboards passed by in the distance. I glanced at the billboards whenever I had the chance to, and almost every one of the advertisements had pictures of happy families. I would rarely ever see advertisements about restaurants or TV shows. Beside me, Hanji stared out of the window and daydreamed. She was so quiet that I nearly forgot she was with me. I could tell that road trips calmed and eased her mind. She reminded me of when I was younger and how I used to daydream. As a kid, I was very imaginative. I remember a time when I was in the car while my mother drove to and from places. I would stare out of the window and imagine a tiger running beside us as if it was a race.

I wondered if that was what Hanji was doing- imagining a creature running alongside us.

I gradually slowed down and went into the exit for Downtown. When I passed the welcome sign, we were suddenly surrounded by tall buildings, as well as some pedestrians walking across the street. Hanji was amazed at how tall the skyscrapers were, and so was I, considering I haven't been down there in a few years. But it wasn't like the perfect city you'd see in movies. This place was far from perfect. I could see that everything had gotten worse down here. Downtown used to be a little more colorful when it comes to architecture, and it used to be populous as well. Now, it was mostly gloomy and monotone. There were barely any people out on the streets. The roads were quite trashed and there was graffiti on every building we passed. If you ask me, it looked very sketchy down there. It was as if a riot occurred not too long ago. The billboards continuously advertised wedding dresses, tuxedos, and children's items that were supposedly on sale. I noticed a large poster on a bus station, and on it was a female with long blonde hair standing under bold letters. I couldn't see what it read. Hanji then pointed out poverty-stricken individuals who sat on the sidewalk as if all life had failed them.

What did the government do to make life worse down here?

When I found the right store, I parked in front of it and turned the car off. "You ready to go inside?" I asked Hanji.  
The brunette nodded her head.  
"Stay close to me, okay? I don't need you getting robbed again."  
Hanji chuckled but was feeling uneasy. "Right..."

We got out of the car together and made our way to the expensive store. When we went inside, nobody was in the store except for the clerk at the cashier. This should be quick, I thought to myself. We stayed together, just as I wanted it to be, and looked for house alarms. It was actually very hard to find them, because most of the good ones were sold out. I guess we weren't alone. Hanji followed and helped me search for what we needed and I ended up walking up and down each aisle in the store. While I was focused on catching the criminal who went into my house, Hanji decided to give up the search for the alarm system and thought about other things. "Hey Levi?" She called me. I didn't look at her, but I did acknowledge that I was listening.  
"I know you probably don't want to talk about her, considering what you told me earlier..." She rubbed her arm and stood in the middle of the aisle as I continue to look through the shelf.  
"I'm listening." I said.  
"Do you ever think about visiting your mother?"  
I took in what she had asked carefully. For some reason, it took me a moment to answer her. "All the time, actually."  
"Really?"  
"Yup."  
"Why don't we go meet her? Besides... it would put her mind at ease, knowing her son is all right." Hanji's eyes were determined, but her words caused me to slam my head into the shelf above the one I was looking in by accident. "Hanji," I replied and rubbed my head. "You have a good heart. But what you're saying isn't a very easy thing to do."  
"How so?"  
"I let _this_ happen." I pointed at my scar.

When Hanji nearly flinched, I then realized what I said. I wanted to mean it but something told me that she wasn't feeling the same way. "I understand." My wife said with a disappointing voice.  
"Sorry. I don't mean it that way." I corrected myself and sighed. "I made a promise. Visiting my mom will be the one and only reason why she gets a heart attack." With that, I continued to search through the shelf again. Hanji remained in the middle of the aisle, watching what I was doing and said nothing more. I almost wanted to feel bad for her. She was trying so hard to build something with me, but I wasn't on the same page.

I managed to find an alarm system. It wasn't the best one, but it was something. When we went to the cashier to buy it, the clerk stared at us with a scowl. I managed to buy it without a problem, but when we left the store, I heard him say something to us, but I didn't know what he said. I wasn't sure if Hanji heard him either. Whatever it was... it was meant to be a threat. Hanji and I went to the car and drove away quickly, and eventually drove out to that same highway we came in through earlier. And the whole ride was pretty awkward. It was comprised of the two of us playing the silent game again.

Eventually we approached a highway tunnel, and the moment I drove inside it, the outside world vanished. The only light we had was the lights on the ceiling of the seemingly endless tunnel. Hanji didn't seem to mind, until she looked at the right rear view mirror. There were no other people in front or behind us, so I drove without worrying about bumping into someone in case I sped. I was about to put the radio on, since it was quite boring, but stopped when my wife finally caught my attention. I was finally ready to quit playing this game. "Levi," I heard her say. "I think we're being followed."

It wasn't what I expected. "What makes you say that?"  
"Look," Hanji pointed to the rear view mirror, and I took a glance at it. Behind us was a black, four-door sedan. It was much similar to mine. But I assumed that they were just going the same way we were going. Maybe they had just came out of an exit. "It's probably just a coincidence," I reassured her.  
"Are you sure about that? Because they're driving real close to us."  
I watched the car behind us change into the left lane. "Don't worry about it. Just ignore them." I said. I looked forward again and focused on where I was going. However, something told me to speed up. But I didn't obey my instincts until I heard a car zoom up to us. I looked to my left again and saw a man with a face mask on in the passenger side window. I watched as he extended his arm out with an Uzi in his hand. Hanji saw what was happening with fear in her eyes, and in an instant I grabbed her head and forced it downwards. "Fuck!" I yelled as I floored the gas pedal. I heard something shatter behind me, but I didn't see what it was. It was probably the bullet going through the back window. The speedometer was surely over ninety by the time we escaped the tunnel. I let go of Hanji and made sure that we were no longer being followed. Luckily, the car was nowhere to be found. "Are you okay, Hanji?" I asked as she sat up and fixed her ponytail.  
"I'm fine." She replied, although shaken.  
"Good."  
"Who were those people? Why did they do that?"  
"I don't know... but something shady is going on. I can tell you that much."  
"Do you think... this is happening because we did something they did not approve of at the reception?" She asked. It's only been a day since we've been married, and already we were fighting for our lives. She was now worried for her life, just as I was worried for mine. But I didn't want her to get hurt. I knew from that day on, it was my responsibility to keep her safe. "You're probably right," I answered Hanji's question. We neared an exit to my home town, but Hanji kept shoving me.  
"Levi, you should really slow down!" She cried. I suddenly realized that I was past a hundred on the speedometer. So much for keeping her safe as top priority.


	6. The Words

When I was eighteen years old, I took one of my father's credit cards and made a living off of whatever was in it. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't care. Although I had plenty of time to plan out my future, I took a risk and moved anyway, and searched for a job. _"Are you really going to leave?"_ I remembered the sound of her voice cracking the moment she discovered suitcases filled with my belongings. _"I need to,"_ I had said without any guilt.  
 _"Why? What did I do?"  
"Nothing." _When I took my stuff to go, she fell to her knees and began to cry.She would never overreact this, so I was positive it was the result of something she was taking. I've caught her at least once as a child, taking things she was not supposed to out of frustration and hopelessness. Ever since I first caught her taking them when I was little, her behavior got more withdrawn and depressive over time. But I couldn't blame her. It was never her fault. _"Please don't leave me,"_ She sobbed. _"What did I do wrong? Tell me what I did wrong! Talk to me, Levi!"  
"I have to go." _I couldn't watch her beg for me to stay, so I started to leave the room with my stuff. I didn't know if her words were real or not.  
She shook her head. _"Don't leave me here! Not with him! You are my everything. I don't want to lose you. I'm sorry for whatever I've done wrong. Isn't that what you wanted to hear?"_  
I was halfway down the hall. _"It's not that simple, mother."_  
Then, she glared at me, as if I cursed at her, and unsteadily picked herself up. I remembered the shift in her tone of voice. She went from devastated and upset, to offended and back stabbed in less than a second. " _You selfish bastard! Just like your father, you're leaving me all alone to rot! Go, leave, and never come back, you piece of shit!"  
_ I ignored her and went off to the foyer, where the rest of my stuff waited by the front door. Before I could take another step, my father called my name. _"So you're leaving, huh?"_ He was right behind me, but I did not dare to look nor speak a word to him.  
 _"Just like that?"_ He continued. _"You think you're just so grown to leave out of the house like this?"  
"Is that all you have to say to me?"_ I ignored his question and he growled under his breath.  
 _"You think you know how the world works. But trust me. It isn't what you think."_  
 _"Say it then,"_ I replied, my back still facing my father.  
 _"Say what?"  
"You know what. I want to hear you say it." _I swallowed hard and tried not to let my shoulders shiver. I wanted to hear three simple words, the ones I've been longing to hear for so many years. It clearly wasn't easy for a narcissistic sociopath to admit how much his child meant to him. That is, _if_ that child meant anything at all to him. _"Say it now. Say whatever it is you have to say. Say it loud and clear. Or forever hold your peace."_ I asked him one more time, but I heard a scoff.  
 _"I don't have to tell you nothing."_

Waiting for him to say three simple words was like refusing to scratch an itch that has been bothering me for decades. _"Is that all?"_ I asked once more. And he said, _"You lived the good life. Well-fed and spoiled rotten. I was forced to be stuck with you and your piece of shit mom, and this is the thanks I get in return? Ungrateful little bitch."  
_  
It wasn't ideal, but I was satisfied with those three words. So I nodded, took my stuff, and left. After that day, I realized how selfish and cowardly I was. I ran away from the problem and never came back to fix it. Had I been born to a different family, my mother would have had a better chance at life. My father's last three words stuck with me. Sometimes I'd mistake my birth name for my nickname.

It was the reason I vowed to never be a follower of the 25 and Older Law. I did not deserve love.

For a long time, I believed I was selfish. All my life, I wanted to be the one who changed the world. Instead, my existence proved that even the littlest creatures can fuck up an entire masterpiece by adding more paint. But at the same time I knew I'd never reach my father's level. Back then, I made a choice to live a better life so that I can make sacrifices on my own without the worry of hurting anyone and being in the way. However, it's been seventeen years and I'm cleaning up after the mess that some thief made in my house, helping my assigned wife clean up the kitchen that she nearly burned down, and setting up cameras and an alarm system in case another moron tries to break in again. On top of that, the people who tried to kill us was the only thing on our minds.

When we were all done, everything was spotless, so Hanji and I tiredly sat down on the sofa. The sun was going to set soon, which meant that we took quite a while to get things done. "That took longer than I expected," I said.  
"Yeah... do you think the alarms will work?" Hanji asked, unsure.  
"I hope so." I sighed and looked at the camera I put on the ceiling. I was still annoyed that we didn't know the person who made me buy it in the first place. "Hey... I'm sorry about today."  
Hanji blinked and shook her head. "Oh no, it's fine. I didn't really need that stuff anyway."  
"Yes you did. And I'm not talking only about that. I mean everything."  
Hanji was just trying to brush it off like it was nothing. "What's there to be sorry for?"  
"I don't know... being so blind, I guess."  
"I'm sorry too." Hanji said out of nowhere, and I was confused. "Sorry for what?" I questioned. She just shrugged and sat up. "Mentioning your mom..."

I understood. I told her it wasn't a big deal but she insisted that it was. "And I'm sorry for leaving," Hanji added.  
"When did you leave?"  
"You know. At the reception. If I hadn't left you, nobody would be trying to kill us."  
"What makes you think they're after us because of what you did? That isn't necessarily a logical explanation, if you ask me."  
"It was just a hunch... after all... there _were_ Witnesses." Hanji thought for a moment, and I watched her. She was right about the Witnesses being at the reception. That gave me an idea. What if the waitress from earlier was sent by a Witness to spy on us, and those men who tried to kill us were sent by Witnesses as well? What if our home was robbed because they were also sent by the government to punish us? That must be why the people in Downtown were being neglected. I believed all sneaky and criminal actions were connected to the government. If true, then that means we were being punished for having human nature... and that something is terribly wrong.

I did not tell Hanji about this idea of mine, though. She didn't look it, but she was still shaken by the events of today. Telling her would only get her even more worked up. "So," I decided to change the subject. "What do you want to do now?"  
"I don't know..." My wife replied.  
"Want to watch something?"  
Hanji turned to me with her eyes suddenly lit up. "Sure!" With that, I turned the TV on and closed the window curtains, and sat back down. We both silently watched a movie on one of the channels that I had switched to. It was one of those dramatic romances that I usually fell asleep to. But for this particular movie, it kept me quite interested. I watched a female character confess her love for the male one who did not love her back. When she finished her confession, the male character told her that he was in love with someone else and had been sleeping with her. Then the female character started to cry and yelled at him. It was such a simple and overused idea for a scene, but for some reason it caught my attention. Somehow, I understood how the girl felt. I almost pitied her.

Hanji leaned on me, put her head on my shoulder, and made herself comfortable by curling up at my side. Her arm was wrapped around my waist and I just froze. I did not want to move because that would disturb her. I found it amazingly strange how all of a sudden she was fine with being this close to me. "What's this for?" I wanted to know, for it was a clearly awkward moment for me.  
"Nothing really..." Hanji said, without looking at me. "I never thanked you for protecting me."  
"It isn't a big deal."  
Then, she moved her head and glanced at me. "Yes it is, Levi. I know it as only been a day, but... I'm starting to realize how important you are to me. I think... I have a feeling that... I'm beginning to accept all of this. But at the same time I'm not too sure."  
"What are you trying to say, Hanji?" I asked her.  
My wife chuckled and grinned. "I like you."

I didn't know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut. She liked me, but I still didn't know much about her or what goes on inside her head. I wasn't sure if I even liked her back or not. I had hoped she would continue to open herself up to me, so I can at least understand what she's feeling. But I didn't want to be selfish or over observant neither, as it'll make things awkward.

I just want things between us to be as neutral and as mutual as possible.

A couple of hours passed and Hanji was sleeping beside me. She had gotten tired after a while and drifted off after that movie finished. I was wide awake, watching the TV on mute so I wouldn't wake her. I listened to her soft, careful breathing and soon found myself watching her chest rise and fall. Instead of leaning on me, she leaned her head on the arm rest while strands of her loosened brown hair covered her face. I looked at the time and realized that it was close to midnight, so I got up and covered Hanji with the blanket I used. I was going to bring her to my room, but I decided it was best not to wake her by accident. She looked so innocent in the way she slept. I wondered what she was dreaming about. At least she was able to sleep at all.

I made sure the house alarm and the cameras were working, and came back into the living room to turn the television off. I stood in the middle of the room, not knowing whether I should stay with my wife in case something happens or go to sleep upstairs so that she can have her space. I still couldn't believe that I was married- just a few days ago I was living all alone trying to accept my mistakes. Now, I'm assigned by law to a naive woman who nearly burned down the house, who showed herself off to me, and follows every rule that is said to her even though it isn't very serious. It wasn't as if I hated her presence, though. If anything, Hanji being married to me began to expose a darker side to this society in which I have never seen before. And if it wasn't for her presence, I would still be alone. I sat down on the sofa, but far away from my wife. That way, I would be there to protect her and give her some space all at the same time. Then an idea popped into my head.

I quietly left the house and drove off. I left Hanji alone, but it was only for a moment. I wanted to make it up to her. I found a store, went inside and bought something. I may not know much about women, but I was positive that Hanji will like it.

If she doesn't like it... then I guess the joke's on me.


	7. The Gift

**HEY GUYS! HERE IS THE FULL VERSION OF CHAPTER SEVEN! IT'S A LITTLE SHORT BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS PART FOR NOW UNTIL CHAPTER EIGHT! :)**

 **P.s., I'm so sorry for the delay. T^T**

I never liked going out at night. Although this town was smaller than Downtown, it didn't stop sketchy people from lurking in the corners. There were more weirdos at night than during the day, which is exactly why I decided to go by myself to the store. What I was doing was a surprise, so going to the store during the day would only make Hanji curious. I wouldn't even leave her alone during the day! I was desperate to keep her away from those strange, strange people. I made my way to the door and carefully unlocked it.

Inside the house, I walked down the foyer and into the living room. I turned the lights on to check on Hanji, but she wasn't there. The blanket she had been sleeping with was hanging from the couch. "Hanji?" I called and went upstairs. Maybe she went to the bathroom. I checked every room, yet my wife was nowhere to be found. I went back downstairs and continued to search for her, growing concerned. I suddenly began to assume the worst. Did something happen? Did someone take her? Did she run away?

Most importantly, why was I worried?

Then, I heard a sound and felt cool air coming from the kitchen. I followed it until I realized that the back door was open. I went to the backyard and saw a woman sitting on the porch, wearing only a thin t-shirt and long pants. "Hanji," I said in relief. My wife turned to me with terror in her waterlogged eyes. "Levi. You came back."  
"You...scared the shit out of me." I simply said and quickly sat beside her. "Why are you out here in the cold?"  
She wiped her eyes and shivered. "Nothing... I just... had a bad dream. I needed some air."  
"That's it?" It sounded mean, but it was unintentional. "What was it?"  
"I forget," Hanji lied.  
"I think we both know that that isn't true."  
Hanji shook her head and sniffed. She sounded like she was getting a cold, so I sighed and offered her my sweater. She took it from my hands and put it on. She immediately stopped shivering and met the over-sized sleeves with her cold cheeks. I wore a longer sleeved shirt, but that didn't stop the frosty wind from biting my skin.

"I had a bad dream." Hanji admitted, as her breath condensed into the air. She didn't even know how to begin. "Everything seemed normal at first. You were standing right beside me. But someone walked up and pointed a gun at us. He kept asking me a question, but I didn't understand him. I turned away to run, and suddenly, I heard a loud bang. When I woke up, you were gone... I thought something had happened to you."

She was traumatized. The way Hanji squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists was a sign that she wanted to forget the memory of those men trying to kill us, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She feared losing me, even though we just met. "It was a dream," I reassured her. "There's nothing to fear."  
"Do you think it means something? What if something happens to you? Or to both of us?"  
"It was a dream," I repeated myself. "Why are you overreacting? I'm still here, aren't I? We survived, didn't we?"  
"I just... times have changed, Levi. I'm scared of losing everything. You're the first one..." Hanji stopped what she was saying as if she accidentally revealed a secret.

I blinked at her. "The first one?" I asked.  
My wife just sighed. "If I tell you... don't feel guilty."  
I was curious now. "Sure." I said.

"I was an orphan," she began. "I didn't know who my parents were. All my life, I jumped from foster home to foster home. Every one of those homes were negligent. I never learned how to cook for myself and others. I never learned how to dance, even though I dreamed of being a dancer. I was sheltered and forced to work for ungrateful people. In school, I was made fun of quite often. I was one of the smartest kids in the school, but I never had any true friends. They'd always leave me by myself and isolate me. But one day, I fell in love. He was my first. But I could never approach him. I would secretly leave letters in his locker and he would read them, not knowing who made them. Every time I saw him walking by I hid my face, so he wouldn't notice me. I wasn't a stalker, but sometimes I would catch myself staring at him. Eventually a dance was coming up. I realized that it was time to grow up and face him. So... during lunchtime, I hesitantly went up to his table. I introduced myself, but he already knew me, which was a surprise. And when I asked him if he'd like to come with me to the dance... the entire table laughed. He revealed the he had a girlfriend and humiliated me in front of everyone. I went home upset and my foster parents didn't even care. Even better, we were robbed that very night. That thief took everything I loved. Everything I earned. Everything I found peace through. And you know what the police did? Exactly what that cop did to us: nothing."

Hanji paused for a moment to keep her composure in check and looked at me. "Then came you. I'm beginning to feel safe around you Levi... you're the first one who cares... and I don't get it. You tell me not to worry about being like the others... why? Am I truly worthy of your kindness? Where have you been all my life?" It was a rhetorical question, but I knew she wanted me to answer. I looked at the trees in my backyard and watched how the leaves swayed with the wind. The stars were scattered across the sky and they twinkled like glitter when light is shown over them. The full moon was high in the sky, giving out a dim glow. I still had the bag in my hands, but the brunette sitting next to me didn't even notice it yet. I wanted to give it to her as a sign of friendship. But something told me to wait. I thought for a moment, then made up my mind. "I'm sorry that happened to you Hanji," I said, facing toward the bag in my hands. "Really, I am... but you have to understand. I'm no one special. I'll never be special. I am just some person who walked into your life. That's it." I felt Hanji's pitiful eyes burning right through me, and in an instant, the words I had said gave her frostbite. I finally learned more about her, but it only pulled me further away. It pained me to see her that way, but what could I do? I didn't want to open myself up just to get rejected again. I thought it was best to keep my distance because the farther you are, the less likely you are to get hit.  
"Is that why you left? Was it so you could get away from me?" Hanji asked in a forlorn tone. I shook my head, and asked her the same question regarding her disappearance during our reception. She shut her mouth and thought about that fact.

I sighed uneasily and stood up, catching her attention again. "I didn't leave to get away from you," I stated before walking inside. "I left because I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. And like I said, I'm no one special... but I'm trying. That should tell you something. Quit worrying and come inside now; you'll catch a cold if you keep sitting there crying about the past." Hanji watched me go inside the house with sadness. But little did she know that there was a black bag sitting in my place. When she did notice it, Hanji curiously looked inside and took out a rectangular box made with a blue velvet covering. When she opened it, it revealed a silver necklace with a sapphire pendant attached to it. By watching through the window, I could tell that my gift took her breath away. Hopefully, she'll learn how to love herself. Because why love a birthstone if you can't love your existence?

Perhaps I was wrong for being one-sided, but I just wanted to see her happy. That's all.

I sat in the living room by myself again, when I heard a door open and shut. I heard footsteps coming closer, until I saw my wife again, who was wearing the necklace. "It's beautiful," She said. "How did you know?"  
"A little birdie told me that your birthstone was a sapphire." I replied and studied the silver jewelry around her neck.  
"Can you promise me something, Levi?"  
"Oh, sure."  
"Promise me that you'll never do this again."  
"Hanji-" I wanted to speak but she stopped me.  
"Material items do not equal happiness... I appreciate this offer but... promise me you'll never do it again."  
"Do you _not_ like it? You were robbed. I gave you something that used to be precious to you."  
"Right... but you don't have to." Hanji came over and sat beside me again. "It's the thought that counts. And for that, I'm grateful. So, promise me."  
"I promise." I said stoically.  
"Pinky-swear it?" Hanji then stuck out her pinky finger.  
I glanced at her and eventually gave her mine. "Fine. I promise."

And she smiled.


	8. The Ring

When I was six years old, my mother signed me up for piano lessons despite the constant quarrels going on inside my home. My old man didn't want to spend monthly on the lessons, but if it meant being gone for an hour, he approved of the idea. My mother was super excited when she met my teacher and settled things with her. I never wanted to go to lessons because I always thought it was girly, yet my mother did not take no for an answer. She said that it was important to learn new things no matter how boring they seem at first. I hated the idea of learning something I wasn't interested in and teachers telling me what to do. Private school was better than piano lessons, I thought. But what could I do? My mom only wanted to see me succeed in something I can do. However, to this day I believe she wanted me to just get out of the house, so I wouldn't be in a bad environment all the time, and to get my mind off negativity.

Eventually, the first day of my lesson came around and my mother walked me to the building, together. Before we went inside to meet with my teacher, I stopped in my tracks. _"I don't want to go in there,"_ I had said. My mom turned around and knelt to my level with a smile. _"Why not, Duckling? It'll be fun!"_  
 _"I don't want to go in there,"_ I repeated myself.  
She put her hands on my shoulders and I looked into her eyes. _"I know this isn't your idea of fun, but just give it a chance. Who knows, you might make new friends and make beautiful music together!"  
"But I don't want to make new friends. I want to stay with you." _When I said that, my mother frowned and looked as if she was about to cry. Suddenly, she gave me a hug and I heard her speak in my ear. _"I know, my little Duckling, I know. But you can't. Mommy has errands to run and work to deal with. I want you to listen to mommy and stay here for one hour. Just an hour, Levi. And then I'll come back to get you and we will go to the ice cream shop! How does that sound?"_

Obviously, I was a naive child, so of course, I believed her, and my ears perked up like a dog. But I was still upset about going to piano lessons. I took what my mother said and agreed with her. She smiled, kissed my forehead, took my hand and we went inside the building together. I met my teacher and after being introduced to her, my mother said her goodbyes and left. The teacher was surprisingly very sweet and gentle, instead of strict and intimidating, which I had assumed. I was introduced to a couple of other kids who stared at me like I was an alien who just came from another planet. When our lesson began, she patiently taught us how to read music first and then how to play the piano. I was a quick learner; the more she taught us, the more I began to improve. The more I improved, the more interested I became. The other kids were not as interested and acted immature about it. But as the minuets passed by, all my feelings of frustration and uneasiness washed away. I was finally comfortable. I felt... safe.

Like all good things, my first piano lesson had ended. My teacher praised me especially for being such a good boy, and told me how smart I was. As quiet as I was, I thanked her and waited for my mother to pick me up. I couldn't wait to see her again, I thought. I hoped that she didn't get hurt. One by one, each kid got picked up by their parents. I sat quietly by the door, staring out of the window for an image of my mother. My teacher said goodbye to each parent that came in for their bratty child. Then, no kids were left, and it was only me and my teacher. One hour turned into two, and two hours turned into three. That's when I began to worry. _"Where's my mom?"_ I asked out loud. My teacher frowned and sat beside me. " _I'm sure she'll be here soon."_ Even _I_ knew my teacher was lying just to make me feel better.  
 _"Where's my mom?"_ I asked once more.  
 _"I tried calling her, but she won't pick up. We just have to wait."  
"Where's my mom?" _I repeated again. I wanted to see her so badly. I wanted to go get ice cream with her. I wanted my mom to burst through those doors and hug me again. Anguish filled my entire body; what if she was hurt, I thought. What if she abandoned me?  
My teacher kept trying to reassure me. _"Don't worry Levi. She's fine, I'm sure."  
_ Then, my eyes became foggy and damp. It was just supposed to be an hour. My heart began to race despite the pain and all of my manners were pushed aside. _"Where's my mom?!"_ My voice cracked, and I sobbed. My teacher did everything she could to calm me down.

My mother never picked me up. Instead, it was my uncle who did so. I don't remember what happened after that. I wanted to continue piano lessons, but after the first day, I did not expect things to go my way anymore. I stopped believing in promises. It was a day that reminded me of how painful life was.

It was the first time I cried for someone who I loved. 

On the last day of November, only the warmth of a thin sweater could protect us from the brisk autumn winds. Then December came along and presented my town with frosty windows. It had been one month since I was assigned to marry Hanji. Time went by faster than electricity. And now that it was a brand-new month, new things were sure to come our way. For Hanji, December was a very special time of year; colorful lights, gift bows, and candy canes was all she could think about. Yet all I could think about was our near-death incident when we were on the highway and the robbery of our home. The waitress from that cafe we went to for breakfast still kept me up at night as well. Was it all connected? Or was it a coincidence? I was desperate to find out, but nobody wanted to help us. Therefore, I came up with the decision to buy a gun. Of course, I couldn't tell my wife because she feared both violence and weapons. My town, despite it being small in size, had a huge mall located near the town's welcome sign. It was far from my house, but it had the best stores... at least, that's what Hanji stated. But inside it was a hunting store that had many guns. I wanted to go to the mall alone to buy one, but Hanji insisted on coming along.

When we arrived at the mall, we made a long journey through the parking lot and eventually made it to the entrance. "Wow!" Hanji exclaimed the very moment we stepped foot inside. There were heavily decorated Christmas trees at every corner and giant fake ornaments hanged from the ceilings. There was an area where children could take pictures with Santa and the lines were tremendously long. I even heard overplayed and exaggerated holiday music echoing off of the walls. The mall was two stories high, but it was still very crowded because everyone was in a rush to buy gifts for their loved ones. Talk about holiday spirit. I quickly sighed, as it would be a long day. "Tell me," I raised my voice, so Hanji could hear me and began walking with her. "What makes you so psyched about this time of year anyway?"  
"Everyone is high-spirited," Hanji replied with a smile while looking around as if she's never been in a mall before. "It's a time of giving and love."  
I turned my attention to a few people who were having a heated discussion as they carried bulky shopping bags. "More like a time of wasting money and frustration."  
"Oh please. Don't be such a Scrooge, Levi."  
"It's true though. And you know it is."  
"Have _you_ ever celebrated Christmas?"  
"Not really."  
"Exactly."  
"But, you see, situations were different in my house."  
Hanji stopped to look at me but with a grin. "Honey, we are the _same_ people."  
She started walking again and I followed behind her without saying anything else. She did have a point. Hanji and I were highly sheltered children back then. But it was clear that Hanji had more of a sheltered life than I did, now that I've learned about her history. That's probably why we were matched: we were alike.

"Oh, look!" Hanji bounced like a child when she saw the water fountain. It was the heart of the mall and for whatever reason it sparked her interest. I had to admit though, the fountain was quite lovely to look at. There were millions of coins on the bottom due to people throwing them inside to make a wish and the ground lights made the water change colors. A statue of an angel stood in the middle of the fountain also. "We should take a picture!" Hanji told me.  
I took out my phone. "Fine. Stand there so I can take one of you."  
"Not me," she corrected. "Both of us, together."

I blinked. "Oh... sure." I got the camera ready and faced it towards us with the fountain in the background. I kept a straight face while Hanji gave a huge smile and took three photos. When we were finished, Hanji slapped the back of my head. "Why didn't you smile?" She asked.  
"I'm not very photogenic."  
"I call bullshit."  
"It's not bullshit. I mean it."  
"You can't just take _one_ nice picture? For _me_?" Hanji jokingly begged with a glint in her eye.  
I just scoffed. "You'd be a great mom." My wife laughed and didn't care anymore. She asked to look at the pictures I took, and I showed her. While I waited for her, I looked around only to notice people staring at us. It wasn't a curious stare- it was more of a disgusted kind of stare. When they started whispering to one another I grabbed Hanji's arm and told her that we needed to move away from here. She didn't understand why.

We walked around the mall and I occasionally stopped to take pictures of Hanji who adored the Christmas decorations. She then told me she wanted to buy something, but was unsure of what store to go to. I still hoped to approach the hunting store, but we were nowhere close. I wasn't sure how I was going to buy the gun and hide it from my wife. It would be pretty risky because I wouldn't want her to get upset. But what was I to do? A gun was a pivotal necessity if I wanted to keep her safe. She'll have to accept that if she were to find out. Hanji and I walked up to a clothing store that was popular among millennials. When she asked me for my approval, I told her that I didn't mind at all and we went inside together. There was indeed a lot of people inside, especially women. Although it would be considered pretty silly for a man in his early thirties to be waiting for his wife who was in her late twenties to release her feminine instincts, it did not phase me whatsoever. Hanji happily looked through the tops and bottoms and asked me for my opinion on a certain style or color. Hanji then picked out a bright red knit sweater with a Christmas tree embedded on it. "How about this? It's holiday themed!" She showed it to me and held it up to her chest.

I almost wrinkled my nose when I saw it against her. "Honestly... it looks like a reindeer threw up on you."  
"Aw, come on. We can do matching sweaters!" Hanji encouraged.  
"Sure, but not that one." I folded my arms and Hanji mocked me as she put the ugly sweater back. I checked the time and put my phone back in my pocket. I watched Hanji again while she searched for outfits we could match with. She then decided it was best to bring me into the men's department. She was desperate to find me the perfect outfit, but I disagreed with every single one she showed me. I felt bad, but Hanji didn't seem to care at all, because she came up with new ideas. She was so happy. She was so joyful. She was being her true self and I appreciated her. I couldn't say I was attracted to her though, because of course, we were keeping a friendly relationship.

However, something inside me disagreed. I began to notice that the more I watched my wife, the more my heart raced. It wasn't my fault; I couldn't explain why it was happening. I tried to deny this feeling as much as possible, but my stomach got fuzzy and my heart beat against my chest. "What is happening?" I thought. My best bet was to get some air. I hurriedly spun around to leave, but instead I bumped right into a young woman who had hair as red as an apple. "Sorry," I said immediately as the girl picked her stuff up from the floor. She looked quite familiar. "It's fine!" The girl happily replied. When she stood up to look at me, she gasped, dropped her bags again and jumped into my arms. "Big brother!" My cousin squealed so loudly that the whole store can hear her.  
"Isabel! You're here." I said in disbelief.  
"Oh my god! It's been so long! I missed you so much!"  
"Ten years and nothing has changed, I see."  
"That's where you're wrong!" Isabel giggled. That's when Hanji came up to me, curious about what was going on. Then she saw Isabel and was even more curious about how we knew each other. "Levi? Everything okay? Who's this?"  
"Hanji, this is Isabel. My cousin."  
"Your _cousin_?!" Hanji's eyes suddenly began to sparkle. She studied Isabel's emerald eyes and the brown freckles on her cheeks, as well as her messy red pigtails. "She's so cute!"  
"Nice to meet ya, Hanji!" Isabel held out her hand to shake my wife's. When she did, she noticed Hanji's scar and gasped. She immediately pulled her hand back. "Levi! You're married too?!" She cried.  
I sighed. I didn't want her to find out. "Yes... last month we did."  
"Wow!"  
"We were matched. I'm guessing you got matched too?"  
My cousin shook her head and held up her left hand to show off her diamond ring. "Nope! I'm taken!"  
My stomach fell to the floor. "You're shitting me."  
"How?! I mean... when?!" Hanji interjected.

Isabel giggled and pondered the day as if it happened yesterday. "I met him in college. He was so sweet and caring. Very shy too at the time. But we got along well and helped each other out. Eventually, we grew more connected and he proposed! I couldn't be happier!"  
Hanji could not believe this whatsoever. The sparkle in her eyes dulled as she looked at her left hand that had no ring on it. "Wow... you must be so happy..."  
"Yup! I love him. My husband and my girls." Isabel said.  
"Wait... Isabel, do you have children?" I then asked her.  
She blinked. "Of course. I have two daughters. My oldest is four, and my youngest is a toddler now. She just started walking!"  
"How old are you?!" I asked again since she looked so young for children, but Isabel laughed.  
"I'm only twenty-five, Levi."  
I was baffled. If Isabel got married before twenty-five, that meant the 25 and Older Law didn't apply to her. She could have kids whenever she pleased. I wanted to ask her if she only married and had two daughters out of fear of the government, but it would have been a little harsh to ask. Another question came to mind as well: why did Isabel receive a ring and we a scar? Is the scar a punishment and the ring a reward? Something is way off.

"Enough about me," Isabel happily said, catching my attention again. "How about you guys? How was your marriage? Any baby planning?"  
"No baby planning." Hanji suddenly replied with a fake smile. "Not for us, at least."  
"We just met a month ago, Isabel." I added.  
My cousin nodded but was still unsure. "Understandable. But... have you thought about it, at least? Because if you were matched..."  
"We're not ready, Isabel. I can't just pop out two babies in two years." Hanji interrupted her, slowly losing her composure.  
"I didn't mean to pressure you," Isabel said, realizing her words. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you guys know... I don't want you and Levi to get hurt."  
"We won't get hurt." Hanji wasn't even sure if that statement was true or not. "They can't make me do anything. Right Levi?" My wife looked at me and waited for me to agree with her. I did not say anything, so Hanji frowned and turned around. "I hope you're happy," She said, and walked away.  
Isabel blinked and felt guilty. "Did I say something wrong?"  
"You said enough." I replied.  
"I just want you to be safe. I'm your cousin."  
"I get it, but... now's not a good time for your fortune. I should go."  
"Wait, Levi!" Isabel called for me before I could go. "At least exchange numbers with me. So we can keep in touch?"  
"Fine." I told her as I took my phone out to have her put her number in my contacts. Isabel smiled at me with her bright green eyes. I remembered the last time I saw her. She was young, a troublemaker, and had no idea what to do with her future. I never expected someone like her to find the right man so quickly and then have two little girls. Time surely does change a person. My cousin was a lucky girl.

After we exchanged phone numbers, Isabel and I said our goodbyes. I went to look for Hanji, but it wasn't hard. She was in an aisle of clothes, sadly looking through them. I came up beside her but didn't say anything.  
"Everyone has it so easy," Hanji sighed. "I wonder what it's like to be them."  
"Hanji..."  
"She has a ring, but I have a scar. She met a man, but I met a stranger." My wife turned to me. "Is it true, Levi?"  
"Hanji, listen-"  
"Is it true that I'm a walking uterus?"  
I suddenly grabbed her shoulders. "Stop this. Stop this now. We went over this."  
"Oh, stop it!" Hanji pushed me off. I took a step back, so I wouldn't fall. "You know damn well that she's better than me! We are experiments for the government! Your cousin lives the good life because she listened to them. All while I look for shirts you don't even like! Why do I even try? You couldn't even agree with me!"  
"You need to calm down. The whole store can hear you."  
Hanji blew up. "Tell me, Levi. Do you even like me?"

I froze. Saying no would hurt her, but I didn't want to say yes either. The feeling in my chest came back and I refused to speak. I didn't know how I felt about her yet. I did not want to feel that way, but my body refused to cooperate with me. She was waiting for an answer; she glared straight into my eyes. I did not want her to be hurt, nor did I want to be selfish by saying I do like her, since I _know_ it's not that way at all.

I was relieved when Hanji shook her head and folded her arms. "Yeah. I thought so." She continued to search for a shirt. This is exactly why I wanted to come to the mall alone. And it wasn't because she was upset. It was because of society.

It was causing her to be anxious.


	9. The Boy

**HEY GUYS! I'M SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY. PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER- AND READ UP UNTIL THE END... ;)**

We needed a break.

Not from each other, but from shopping. Hanji's desperate search for matching Christmas sweaters was proven unsuccessful, so I brought her with me to the food court. We sat down across from each other in silence while everyone else surrounding us ate with their friends and family. It must be nice to laugh with the people you love. "Did you want something?" I asked to break the silence.

"What?" Hanji looked up. She misheard me.

"Do you want something to eat?" I repeated.

"I'm not hungry, Levi. Thank you."

I sighed. I decided that small talk wasn't going to bring us anywhere. So, I went right to it. "Look. My cousin isn't a bad person. She may… unintentionally say the wrong things sometimes."

She shook her head. "No, I was a bit harsh on her, I admit. But I didn't understand why she had to ask about when I'm having kids. You think I want to worry about that now?"

"She didn't say that," I corrected her. "She was only concerned that we'd get in trouble." I looked around our table and didn't know what else to say. Isabel was only trying to protect me and Hanji, but it only made the pressure worsen. I too was not ready for kids, especially two of them. My cousin had a way with words, but they were brutally honest, and for that I couldn't blame her. Because my cousin was married before the age of twenty-five, she had more privileges and the freedom to do almost whatever she wanted. That was what bothered Hanji the most. And frankly, it bothered me too.

My wife leaned on her hand and stared off into her surroundings. I didn't like it when she thought so much. But her facial expression changed, from annoyed to innocent and curious. That was when I began to have that fuzzy feeling in my stomach again. The more I looked at her, the stronger it got. It made me highly uncomfortable and I wanted to stand up, but it would have been rude. "You know," Hanji then said out of nowhere. "Now that I think about it… what _would_ it be like to have children?"

Her voice made the feeling worse for me. "You changed your mind?" I asked her, surprised that she would say such a thing. But she shook her head. "It's not that I want any right now," She replied. "What I'm trying to say is… what is it like? To have kids running around your house? What's it like to be pregnant? What's it like to sacrifice everything for them? How does it feel when they tell you how much they love you? I want to know."

"I used to babysit Isabel," I remembered. Hanji looked at me with interested eyes. I faced the table as the memories came to me. "It was only for a short time. But I used to babysit her when she was younger. My cousin would literally bounce off the walls. Isabel was a troublemaker; she loved to pull pranks on me. Whenever I gave her dinner, she'd refuse it and ask for sweets. She was loud and social; something I never was at her age. One day, I allowed her to go play outside because I had enough of her hyperactivity. She was gone for an hour, and I didn't think of it until she came back in, bawling her eyes out. Isabel tripped on her shoelaces and scraped her knees while running after a ball. I immediately wanted to help, so I gave her band-aids. Then, she stopped crying, and gave me a hug. From that point on, Isabel called me 'Big Brother.' So yeah. That should give you an idea of what it's like to have kids."

Hanji chuckled and shook her head. "You would be a good dad."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know… something about you makes you fit for fatherhood."

I narrowed my eyes. That fuzzy feeling disappeared, but I knew it was still in there somewhere. "Hanji, the day we have kids is the day we question our sanity."

"You don't know that." She replied with a grin.

"Neither do you."

I stood up from the table, for I was tired of sitting around. "Still don't want anything?" I asked my wife. This time, however, she nodded her head and got up from her seat. All this baby-talk somehow got us famished, so we walked over to the line of people waiting to order food. At this rate, I'll never be able to buy the gun from that store. Hanji didn't know that I already had a permit to carry one, so it was important for me to buy one in secret. If I was fatherly like Hanji said I was, then buying a weapon was necessary if I wanted to keep my family safe. That's what I'd do, at least.

My wife turned to me. "Hey, after this, let's go home." She said.

"Why? I thought you wanted to look for matching sweaters." I asked. Hanji just shrugged as if it wasn't important. "We can do it another time."

"Whatever you say." I replied and checked the time. It wasn't too late. The line was very long; it was probably because everyone in it took forever to pick what they wanted to eat. It wasn't rocket science, but for whatever reason, these people were indecisive. I noticed kids running around and playing with each other while their older siblings stared at their phones, ignoring everyone. I watched as parents reprimanded their children by yelling at them with a sharp tone in their voice, and it was a clear sign that they were fed up with their nonsense. Hanji was watching this as well with disappointment. I thought everyone was supposed to be happy. It's a shame that more and more people are not getting along. Parents were stuck with kids they didn't plan on having, and kids were stuck with a system that caused them to act out.

Speak of the devil. I felt someone tap on my hand, and when I looked over to see who it was, I realized that it was a little boy. He was small and scared, and his eyes were red from crying too much. "Excuse me," he said. I made Hanji aware that a child was here and I went to his level.

"Oh, hey there… what's wrong?" I asked.

The boy sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I need help."

"With?"

"I'm lost! I can't find my mom." Another tear fell down his cheek and Hanji went on her knees, feeling sorry for the boy. "Oh no," She said. "Do you remember where she was?"

The boy shook his head.

"What is your name?" Hanji asked again.

"Armin… can you help me?"

"Of course, we can!" Hanji beamed and her eyes sparkled. I blinked and asked her to speak with me privately for a moment.

"Hold on, Hanji. We don't know if this is a trick." I whispered to her. My wife did not like the sound of that and frowned at me. "Are you kidding me, Levi? He needs help. How could you say such a thing?"

"It just seems odd that a child his size would come out of the random and ask for our help. Out of all people, he asked _us._ "

"Look around. I'm pretty sure he'd hate to ask for anyone else's help, considering they're already busy."

"I don't trust it."

"He is a child."

I glanced at the little blond five-year-old who waited for us to help him. Armin seemed innocent, and he didn't really look like he was being used as bait. I was skeptical, but I would be denying a child's cry for help if I turned my back on him. Then, I sighed and made up my mind. "Okay. What should we do?" I asked.

"We can bring him to the security's office." Hanji replied. "Perhaps they'll make an announcement for his mother. And, if it works out, Armin will be safe in the office for her to pick up." Hanji knelt to the child again and pet his head. "Don't worry. We'll help you find your mom. But can you tell me her name?"

Armin tried to think. "I don't remember…"

"That's okay. We'll go to the police and they will call your mom for you, alright?" Hanji asked the boy as softly as possible so he wouldn't feel scared and he nodded.

Since I knew where the security office was, we abandoned our spot in the line and I directed them. I looked over my shoulder to check on them, and Hanji held hands with the little boy as she asked him more questions. It was clear that he was comfortable being next to her. What a coincidence; Hanji had just wondered what it was like to have kids and then Armin appeared out of nowhere. Hanji would probably make a decent mother; then again, I'm pretty sure most women would, considering that helping kids is top priority. When we arrived at the security's office, I came over to Hanji. "I'll do the talking," I told her. "Just keep him company."

My wife nodded and Armin tightened his grip on her hand. I walked over to the window and there was an officer sitting behind it. I knocked on the glass to get his attention. I was against using the help of an authority because our last confrontation with a cop didn't go so well. But what else were we to do? Leave Armin alone in a mall full of strangers? I wasn't having it. "Hello?" I called. The cop saw me and I asked for him to come outside of his office. When he did, he asked, "Hey, there. What can I do for you?" with a stupid grin on his face.

"This child came to us saying he was lost," I replied and gestured toward Armin, who was hiding behind Hanji. "My wife and I were hoping that you could make an announcement for his mom to hear."

"Oh my, a lost child, you say? That's too bad." The cop shook his head and glanced over at Armin. "This stuff happens a lot during this time of year."

"Oh." I wasn't surprised.

"Look, we can't make an announcement for his mom, but I can file something for the kid."

"Wouldn't it be better to make one?" I questioned.

"It would. But I personally cannot."

"Then who can?"

He shrugged. "Whoever deems it necessary, I suppose."

"Let me get this straight then," I folded my arms. "You don't help unless someone's hurt. Correct?" I waited for an answer, but the guy just fell silent. Hanji came over to me and took my shoulder, meaning that I should shut up. It was as if I read the cop's mind; his skin turned pale and he nearly shivered. "I'm not asking for trouble," He finally said.

"Neither am I," I shot back. Then, I had an idea that could possibly help us, as well as Armin. "Do you have kids, sir?"

"Yeah…"

"How would you feel if one of them got lost?"

"What does this have to do with-"

"How would you feel if no one offered to help? Wouldn't it suck? No one wants to help your kid. That hurts, doesn't it?"

He blinked at me and worriedly looked away, as if what I said was going to jinx him in the future. Hanji was scared that something could go wrong, but she realized that my plan was working. Eventually, the cop sighed and called someone about Armin. I guess guilt tripping others into doing something is the best option to take.

Twenty minutes passed by, and Armin had no sight of his mother, despite an announcement made throughout the mall. The three of us sat in the security's office waiting for someone, anyone, to come over and put their kid at ease. With each minute that passed, Armin grew scared that he wouldn't see his mom anymore. He leaned on Hanji while sucking on his thumb like a toddler. "Poor kid," my wife whispered, her hand on his head. "I'd hate to be in his situation."

I nodded and took a good look at Armin. "Funny. I already have an idea."

"Huh?" Hanji tilted her head, curious.

"I had to wait for my mom once." I recalled the memory of being stranded with my old piano teacher for hours. "It didn't end pretty."

"Oh," Hanji felt even worse. "I'm sorry. That's terrible."

"I could care less. Besides, this kid must have it so much better. He's lucky."

"How so?"

"He's not with snakes."

Armin sat up and moved his blond hair away from his eyes. He had something to say. "I hope mommy comes back."

"I'm sure she will soon!" Hanji reassured.

"It's my fault. She told me to wait and I still got lost."

"Wait… she told you to stay?"

Armin nodded. "Mommy told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, she was gone. I tried to look for her, but she wasn't anywhere."

We both wanted to tell him. We both wanted to tell Armin how much of a fool his mother was. But we couldn't come up with words. We could not be straightforward with him because he was too pure of heart. "Armin…" Hanji said guiltily.

"I want to see her again… I hope she comes back."

"Armin… I don't think…"

"You don't think she'd abandon me, do you?"

"Armin." Hanji faced him. "Try not to think so much… you just need to… have faith."

The boy looked at her, and then turned to his lap. "That's what my grandpa says."

"Wait Armin. What is your grandfather's name?" Hanji asked. Armin was hesitant, but he trusted us because he knew we had good intentions. The little boy gave us a name and we told the cop, since his mother wouldn't be coming anytime soon. The cop did his best to look up the grandfather and managed to find his phone number. After a long wait, we were told that the grandfather was finally coming, and Hanji told Armin the good news.

"You're going home, Armin." She said.

"Really?" The boy's eyes lit up. She nodded and it wasn't long before an old man burst through the doors. Hanji and I stood up as Armin recognized and ran to his grandfather. "Grandpa!"

"There you are!" The old man said as he caught the boy in an embrace. "I'm so sorry, Armin." The grandfather smiled at the sight of Armin, happy that he was safe and sound. He then came over to get a good look at us. He seemed like he'd been through some rough times, and has probably played a huge role in Armin's life. Based on what Armin told us, there was most likely a huge custody battle going on in his family. The old man put a hand on my shoulder first. "Thank you for protecting my grandson." He then turned to Hanji. "Thank you so much for keeping him safe… this is the fifth time his mother attempted an act like this."

"Is that so?" I asked with disbelief.

"Yes… I'm so sorry that you had to be dragged into this." The old man felt Armin tug on his shirt, asking to go home. His grandfather picked him up and carried him to the door. But before he left, he turned to us one last time with a huge smile. "Thanks again. We need more angels like you two."

With that, the little boy waved goodbye, and we would never see him again. Hanji hoped that his home life would get better over time. And so did I, to be frank; after all, no child should be left alone by themselves. When that boy came to us for help, I saw myself in Armin. He was almost an exact replica of my younger self. It made me more aware of the fact that I wasn't the only one who went through family problems. My wife and I left the mall satisfied with what we've done. We practically saved Armin's life; _we_ of all people. I bet no one else even gave a shit that a little boy was wondering around looking for a family member who nearly abandoned him. Each day, people care less and less.

Armin's grandfather was right. We need more angels in this godforsaken world.

As I was driving home, the sun was setting in the horizon, and Hanji had fallen asleep in the passenger seat beside me. I kept thinking about the events that occurred in the mall. I met Isabel for the first time in years, we helped a child, and I spent time with my wife; even though I came there for a different intention. We never got to buy those matching Christmas sweaters, but I'm sure Hanji didn't mind anymore. I too, wondered what that fuzzy, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach meant. Was I sick? Was I nervous? Was I in love?

Definitely not in love. I mean, how could I be in love? It's only been a month since I've been with her. I shouldn't feel love. I refused to be in love. But what was it about her that made me feel a certain way? I wanted to know very badly. I drove in silence, staring at what was in front of me, while Christmas music played on the radio in low volume. The widows were up, so I couldn't hear the cars passing by me on the highway. I thought so much that I gradually zoned out and blocked out everything.

All of a sudden, time slowed down, for an unknown force came from my side and smashed all of the windows open. The sound of crushing metal and shattering glass filled my ears and I felt my entire car swerve across many lanes. I reached for Hanji but we were collided with another vehicle, causing us to be airborne. I felt an air bag slam into my face and everything went black.

The radio was still playing.


	10. The Truth

When I came to my senses, I opened my eyes and saw a woman.

All dressed in white, I could have sworn she was an angel. But I was very much alive. My vison was a bit hazy though. I watched the figure of the woman's body go from one place to another, setting things inside a cart that she pushed around. I blinked a couple of times to see clearly again and I raised my left hand toward my face to look at it. I noticed an intravenous tube pricking under the skin of my wrist as it transferred clear fluid into my body. I was in the hospital.

When I tried to sit up, agonizing pain jabbed straight into my stomach and kept me restricted. I took a few breaths to soothe myself and tried again. Only, a hand was placed on my chest. "Try to relax," Said a man. He was dressed in white as well, and had a stethoscope hanging off his shoulders. "You're still recovering." I fluttered my eyelids again to focus on his face and touched my head. There were bandages on my forehead. "Why am I here…?" I questioned, my voice barley above a whisper.

"There was an accident," The doctor responded as he used the stethoscope to listen to my heartbeat. "T-boned and went airborne. You're lucky to be alive." The man grinned at me and finished checking on me. I saw the same woman with the cart again, but she left the room with it. I wondered what was in there. The memory of the accident was vivid; it happened so quickly that I still had to comprehend what was going on. "Levi Ackerman, is it?" The doctor caught my attention and I turned to him again. I nodded and he wrote something down on a small notepad. He smiled again. "I figured it was you."

"What… what do you mean?"

He ignored me. "A couple of wounds, bruises and a concussion are the only things you have to recover from. Other than that, you'll live."

"Hanji," I immediately recalled that my wife sat beside me in the car. I was concerned for her health. "Where's Hanji? Is she alright?"

"Who?" The doctor tilted his head with confusion. The same woman who was dressed in white pushed the door open and walked right into the room. Instead of a cart, a metal tray was in her hands. "My wife," I repeated myself as the nurse set it down on the table beside the bed. "I want to see her."

The doctor sifted through his notes and shook his head as if there was a problem. "I don't understand."

"Do you… _not_ know what that means?" I asked him, a bit irritated.

"Levi… you don't have a wife."

I felt my soul leaving my body. I automatically didn't trust this guy. "No. You're bullshitting me, aren't you? Let me see her." I tried to sit myself up again, ignoring the pain this time, but the nurse forced me down. "You must relax," The woman told me with a gentle voice. "It'll all be over soon."

That only made it worse. "What will? What are you going to do to me?" I responded, and struggled to sit up despite her holding me down. She was strong, but I was stronger. The doctor went to the door and called for more nurses. Three more people in white swarmed in the room and aided the woman. Two people on each side of the bed grabbed my arms and legs and held me against my will. I struggled to be free of their grasp, except it only made the pain in my body grow stronger. "Let me go!" I yelled. "Let me see her!"

The doctor walked over to the table where the tray was and picked up the syringe laying on it. It had a yellowish liquid inside of it already. The nurses moved aside while holding me down and allowed the doctor to come near me with the syringe in his hands. I observed his eyes. He wasn't genuine anymore. He wasn't trustworthy anymore. His expression was apathetic and petrifying with sadistic intentions and desires. "Where is Hanji?! Let me go!" I continued to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Like I said, Mr. Ackerman. You don't have a wife. You're delusional and this is perfectly normal for cases like yours." The doctor moved my short sleeve out of the way to make my skin bare. He wiped my upper arm clean with a damp cloth and prepared to use the syringe on me. I didn't know what was inside that thing, nor did I want to know. Something was going on. I did not want to be a part of it.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I demanded, and jerked my arm away from him. However, a nurse jumped on the bed and used his body to restrain me. I felt his knees sinking into my stomach and the pain was unbearable, but I did everything I could to fight through it. He even held my head downwards so that I couldn't budge. I flinched when the doctor stuck the needle into my arm and slowly injected the liquid into my body. "Don't be scared. It'll be over soon. I promise." The doctor told me and yanked it out.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked repeatedly as the doctor left the room. The nurses continued to hold me down as the male nurse got off me. It didn't take long for me to lose my sense of touch. I was drowsy and I did not have any strength left to lift my arm. The nurses finally let me go as everything went numb. "I… I want to see her… let me go…" I could hardly speak.

Time was in slow motion. Heavily sedated, I could only watch the ceiling move upwards. To the nurses pushing me down the hallway, I was perfectly calm and tranquil. But they didn't know how much I wanted to remove them from existence. I only wanted answers, but no one would give it to me. The doctor didn't make any sense when he told me that I was not married. I wasn't crazy. I was far from it. She was sitting right next to me when the accident happened. However, if Hanji and I weren't even married to begin with, then what was the ceremony for? Why was I matched with her?

I felt a bump as I was pushed over a threshold. The ceiling was completely different as it had strange light fixtures hanging from it. I heard the nurses being told what to do by other doctors but I couldn't make out what they were saying due to whatever they gave me. Suddenly, I felt my body being lifted and they propped me onto a metal table. Someone moved a surgical light over my head and I was blinded. "What is happening…?" I asked, trying to fight through my sedation.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ackerman," A woman answered. "We have to perform an emergency operation."

"Why?" I tried to sit up but the woman refused to let me look around. Instead, she held my head. "Look at me. Ignore them," She told me. "You'll be alright."

"Tell me… tell me the truth."

"It'll only take an hour. If you're scared, I'm right here to talk with you."

"What about Hanji?"

"Didn't the doctor tell you? You don't have a wife."

"You're lying."

The woman chuckled. "There's nothing to lie about. Everything will be fine." She smiled and stroked my hair. In the background, I heard buzzing sounds and something was being sharpened. A nurse whispered something in the woman's ear, and she nodded. "Ok, Levi," She began. "It's time to sleep."

The drug in my body was wearing off. "Don't touch me, you bitch!"

"Calm down. We are going to begin the procedure. Anything you want to say to me before we start?"

I widened my eyes and quickly turned my head. The nurses were setting up some type of machine with four different substances inside of it. Next to it was an object that was horrifyingly similar to an incubator. I connected the dots. "Holy shit. You're going to kill me…"

"Do not think of it that way." The woman told me.

I shook my head. I was still dizzied from the drug, but I was aware of my surroundings. "You're using Hanji to make children, aren't you? And when you're done with me, you're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Please stop asking so many questions." The woman slammed me downwards as a nurse approached me with a mask used for chemicals. In just a mere moment, I thought of my mother. If she knew what was happening, she'd be devastated. I remembered how she told me to never make the same mistakes that she made. I never asked for any of it, but it was only a matter of time before society came after me. She would be so disappointed in me. I failed her.

Before the nurse could cover my face with the mask, I watched him drop to the floor immediately after a loud bang startled everyone in the room. When I sat up, all the nurses and doctors dropped dead one by one, blood pooling under them. I turned my head to find the exit. A person whose face was hidden beneath a white mask lowered their gun and approached me. I didn't say anything, for the person carefully took the needles out of my arm for me. When they were done, they pulled the mask off. "Hey, Big Brother!"

"Isabel?!" I yelled. My cousin- her out of all people- literally killed multiple people in a matter of seconds. "What are you doing here?!"

"Saving your ass!" Isabel responded with a smile. She took out her gun again when she heard the door open and rapidly shot whoever walked in. I was taken aback, for this wasn't the cousin I knew. Isabel grabbed my arm. "Can you walk?"

I blinked. "I don't fucking know! I was nearly killed!"

"You can walk. Come on!"

"No. I'm not leaving with you."

Isabel raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to see your wife?"

I couldn't be more confused. The doctor told me that I didn't have a wife at all. I deserved an explanation.

Isabel became impatient. "Look, unless you want to die here, come with me. We have Hanji. They were just trying to scare you. I will answer whatever it is you want me to answer. Just please do me a favor and stop being stubborn." She held out her hand and I hesitated to take it. I hopped off the operating table and stumbled. I felt better, but the drug inside me continued to linger, and Isabel laughed at me for how stupid I looked.

Isabel led the way while keeping her guard up. I was still in pain from the accident but that wasn't my main concern anymore. No matter how old she was, Isabel would always be a kid to me. A kid who murdered a whole room full of people… and who also saved my life. I wondered how she found me and managed to do such a thing. Perhaps it she was returning the favor for all the times I had to save her ass from getting into trouble. Although Isabel was tough to work with… she was a good kid at heart. Back then, whenever she was around, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But this day wasn't bright at all. Isabel continued to lead me down the hallway filled with dead bodies sprawled out on the floor. The more bodies we walked past, the more convinced I became that she was a ninja. Eventually, we made it to an isolated area, and I followed Isabel towards the door at the end of it. "Here we are!" She announced her presence the moment she entered inside. A man with long, messy brown hair stood beside the hospital bed where Hanji was laying. I immediately went up to see her. "Hanji! It's me! Are you ok?" I waited for a response, but her eyes were closed. Her glasses were gone. There were bandages wrapped around her left eye and had cuts all over her arms.

"She's unconscious," The man said without any emotion, and I looked up at him. Furious, I sped over to him and grabbed his shoulders. "What did you do to her?!"

"Whoa, hold up a minute!" Isabel went in between us. "If it wasn't for him, she'd be dead! Same goes for you!"

"She's right, you know." The man added.

I backed away. "And who the hell might you be?"

"Someone who has known you ever since you both got married." The man walked over to the window and watched the outside world. I didn't trust him, but something told me to at least listen to him. "You… you know who I am?"

"Yes." He glanced at me with his emerald green eyes. "I'm Eren. To you, that name means nothing. But it is I who has been trying to protect you all these years."

When he paused, I turned to Hanji. "I noticed."

"Levi, do you know why your father was so wealthy?" Eren then asked.

How did he know? I wanted to ask, but it was better that I didn't. I surprisingly couldn't think of anything. "I never knew."

"Do you remember how on the news, the population suddenly dropped in hundreds because of some 'sickness?'" Eren faced me this time. I nodded my head, but Isabel frowned at me. "It was a lie." she said.

"What? No, that can't be-"

Eren cut me off. "The population never suffered a sickness. And if there ever was a sickness, it was wiped out in a couple of days." He walked up to me with a serious face. "Your father worked for the government. He managed the murdering of all the poor people that lived in Downtown to "clean up" society, and covered the massacre up with fake news about a mall shooting. That's why that place is in horrible shape. This process happened for so many years that the population went down in large numbers. Your father, as well as our current mayor, wanted only the rich to live. The 25 and Older law was intended for the wealthy to raise money off us and force them to repopulate; another reason why Downtown is in horrible shape."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. But I wasn't surprised, either; my father had always been secretive. Most of my time was spent with my mother as well, so I never knew what he truly did for a living. "If that's true," I began. "What does it have to do with us?"

"I don't know." Eren simply answered. He turned towards my wife again and gently placed his hand on her forehead. "That's something we can't tell you. Perhaps you did something they did not like."

I figured it was. "Then why did you save us?"

"Because I run a secret organization that protects the poor from being killed and the Matched from being 'punished.' Isabel begged me to look after you and your wife. So, we located your phone and Isabel managed to find you at the mall… of course, disguised as an average person. So be grateful for that."

"It's true," Isabel blurted, although feeling guilty for spying on me. "I don't have a husband. Or kids. Sorry, Big Brother."

It didn't matter. She saved my life, after all. I was just concerned for our safety, knowing the truth about the government's secrets. It made me sick knowing what they do to the underprivileged. I was almost ashamed of myself, because all I did was run away with my father's savings instead of trying to stop him. "He's probably making me suffer for 'ruining' his life." I told them. "I don't know what else to do at this point."

"That's why we're here," Eren explained. "If you come with us, we will protect you and Hanji. You won't have to worry about them trying to murder you."

"Yeah! It would be fun having you around again! Just like old times!" Isabel giggled.

I scoffed at her, but it really would be nice to have family around again. Unexpectedly, I realized that Hanji was moving her head. I quickly went beside her and took her hand. "Hanji? It's me."

My wife opened her eye like she was seeing the world for the first time. Her pupil locked in place with mine as if she's never seen me in her entire life. "Levi…?"

"I'm here," I reassured her.

Something was different about her eyes. They didn't sparkle anymore. Despite having worse injuries than I, she remembered everything. "They were going to kill me…"

"I know. They tried to kill me also." I stood up and showed her the two people who saved our lives. "But this is Eren. And you remember Isabel, right? They saved us and are going to protect us from now on. I'll explain the details later."

"I just want to go home." Hanji was on the verge of tears. She was sick of all the bullshit going on.

"Yeah, me too."

"We should go," Eren then said after looking out the window. "The others are here to pick us up. Since you two are injured, we'll bring you both home to recover and guard your house for now until we find room for you. That'll give us more time to plan." He told Isabel to bring in a wheelchair for Hanji while he helped her sit up. I didn't understand what he meant with that last sentence, so I asked him. "Plan for what?"

Eren asked Hanji if she could stand up, and she did. Isabel came back in and allowed my wife to sit on the wheelchair by herself. Before he left the room to guide us, he turned to me with a cold, unsympathetic stare. "I am going to assassinate the mayor, who is responsible for everything."

"Assassinate the mayor," I took it all in.

"Yup. Oh, and one more thing."

"Oh?"

"If you do end up staying with us…" Eren said, "There's a chance you might see your mother again."


	11. The Family

I couldn't be more grateful to be home. The moment Eren and the rest of his gang dropped us off, Hanji and I left their vehicles and immediately made ourselves home again. But because he wanted us to be watched over, Isabel made the decision to stay with us. Meanwhile, I explained everything Eren told me to Hanji as simply as possible during the ride home. Eren would most likely arrive the next day to see how we are holding up. After entering my home, Isabel helped Hanji walk up the stairs and I guided them to the bedroom, where my wife could rest in. Hanji laid herself down as my cousin made sure she was comfortable by fixing up the pillows and blankets. I just stood by the door, watching them. "You really didn't have to do this," she told Isabel.

"Oh stop. It's the least I can do." My cousin smiled at the brunette and turned around to leave. But before she could, Hanji called her. "Isabel?"

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to apologize."

"You didn't do anything!" My cousin giggled.

My wife just sighed. "I was harsh on you at the mall. I shouldn't have gotten angry. You were only trying to protect us… and I'm sorry."

Isabel chuckled again, accepting her apology although it wasn't necessary. "It's fine, Hanji. It was all an act, anyways! Don't you worry about it." My cousin walked over to where I was and patted my shoulder. "She's a lucky lady," She whispered in my ear. "Go ahead and be with her. I'll stay in the guest bedroom, like you told me during the ride here."

"I'd… rather give her some space." I faced the floor.

"Why? She's your wife. Just a minute ago you were worried about her."

"I know, but…" I stopped when Isabel patted my back and left the room after telling me where she would be. It wasn't like I didn't want to be there for my wife. It's just that a month ago, I told Hanji that we didn't have to be in the same bed together. And on top of that, us being matched nearly costed our lives… especially hers. I stood by the door, not knowing what to do or where to go. Hanji tried to rest, but couldn't help noticing me. "Are you just going to stand there?"

I didn't say anything.

"Come here," My wife commanded warmly and held out her hand. "You're injured too."

"I shouldn't." I finally replied.

"Why?"

"I'll be fine."

"Are you scared of me?" Hanji joked.

I scoffed and folded my arms. "Yeah, ok."

"Please?" She continued to hold her hand out. I took a deep breath and gave in. I went up to the bed and carefully sat beside her on the edge. "You're cheap," Hanji frowned at me.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Lay down! You're injured!"

She had a point. Besides, sitting was a still little painful for me. As hesitant as I was, I picked up the covers and went under them. Then I rested on my back, made sure I wasn't touching her, and stared at the ceiling. "Are you happy now?" I asked. I didn't see her, but I knew she was nodding with that stupid smile on her face.

"I'm so happy to be home," Hanji then said. "Well… _your_ home."

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Cut it out. This is _your_ home too."

"You really think so?"

"When those movers came to this house and started putting your shit in here, I was pretty sure it was yours as well."

She chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"I have to agree with you though... I'm quite tired of being out in public." I paused, and Hanji waited for me to continue. I recalled what Eren told me about what the 25 and Older Law is really being used for and what my father did that made him wealthy. I did not know who the mayor was, for nobody could learn their name or see their face, and yet Eren wanted to assassinate them. On top of that… my mother could possibly be alive. A lot happened, and it's only been a month since we got matched. I couldn't feel any worse. "You know," something came to me and caught Hanji's attention. "Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I wasn't here."

"What do you mean?" Hanji asked, concerned.

"If I wasn't born, none of this would be happening. You wouldn't be hurt. If I wasn't here, Isabel wouldn't have to protect us from the government. And I was blinded by so much hatred that I let my father kill innocent people. This is exactly why I never wanted to be matched. At this rate, I'll be following in his footsteps."

I felt a hand on my arm and I looked at my wife who was worried for me. "Stop it," she said. "You will never become your father. Nothing is your fault."

"You say that now."

"Do you _want_ to be like him?"

"No… but..."

"Then you won't. End of story."

"I just… I'm so tired." I covered my face, both exhausted and frustrated at the same time.

"Then rest," Hanji said, understanding me. "I'm here."

"You don't understand." I stared at the ceiling again. "All my life, I've wanted one simple thing. The only person who truly gave it to me was my mom… but it wasn't long before I left her."

Hanji thought she could cheer me up. "But didn't Eren say that you might see her again?"

"Even if it were true… nothing would be the same."

"Levi…" She felt horrible and didn't know what else to say. Suddenly, my eyes began to fog up. I did everything I could to hide what was happening, but it was impossible to keep it from the woman lying beside me. As if she sensed my pain, Hanji sat herself up and ignored her aching body. She lifted the blanket out of her way and gently moved toward me. Soon, she was right there; half of her body leaning over mine as if she was going to kiss me.

I grew uncomfortable. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… trying to make you feel better."

"I thought you didn't want to be near me… or touch me."

"None of that matters anymore." Hanji simply said. "You aren't alone."

"You still don't understand…"

"Shh," Hanji rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes. "Just rest."

I froze. The one thing I wanted in life, I never got. And if I did, I could feel it in my stomach. It was rare for me. However, the very fuzzy sensation that I felt in the mall began to develop all over again. I didn't want to believe it, but it only got stronger and stronger. And Hanji laying on me didn't help at all. "I only wanted one simple thing," I thought out loud.

My wife listened to my heart beating rapidly. "And that is?"

I couldn't say the word out loud, for I didn't know how she would react. So, I flipped it around. "To be worth someone's time." I don't think she realized how much my eyes leaked. Hanji remained on my chest and didn't say a word. The feeling in my stomach was unbearable; the longer she laid there, the greater it turned out to be. I didn't want to admit it, but I finally realized something. I was ashamed of myself, but I couldn't help it. I covered my face and silently let my tears do all the talking. Although I did not see her, I felt Hanji sit her head up to watch me. "Levi?"

"Yeah?" I replied and wiped my eyes.

When I finally faced her, Hanji gave me a worried appearance. "There's something I need to tell you."

Without knocking, Isabel burst into our bedroom and startled us. "Hey! How are you two lovebirds holding up?"

My wife and I sat up. "Jesus… what do you want, Isabel?" I asked.

"I'm just checking on you."

"Seriously though, we could have been fucking." When I said that, Hanji gave me a disgusted face. Isabel threw her head back and laughed at my joke. "I'm sorry," she said. "I never actually looked after someone before. Eren told me to never let my guard down."

"Well, you're doing great so far." I sarcastically replied as I continued to wipe my eyes.

"Hehe," Isabel scratched her head. She knew I was crying, but didn't want to point it out yet. "I also wanted to tell you both… that dinner is on me!"

It didn't take Isabel long to make dinner for us. In fact, I didn't even know what she was doing in my kitchen until she ordered us to get the table ready and sit down. She didn't burn the house down, unlike Hanji when she was trying to make breakfast for us a month ago. I've been teaching her a thing or two ever since then and she's been improving very well. Isabel, however, used to be just like my wife: she couldn't prepare food even if her life depended on it. No matter how many times I taught Isabel, she would never get it right. She would forget something on the stove and cause it to burn, spill liquid ingredients on the floor, and cut herself while trying to chop up vegetables. She was truly a nightmare.

I was relieved the very moment Isabel came out of the kitchen, holding three plates of food like a waitress. The smoke detector never went off, and what she made for us looked edible. My cousin set the plates down in front of us and we thanked her. "I do hope you enjoy," Isabel said with a big smile on her face.

"Since when do you know how to cook?" I asked her as I began to eat

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Big Brother."

"Clearly. You dropped off the face of the earth."

"Well, when I was taken in by Eren, he taught me a few things. And after a few years, I ended up becoming one of his most reliable partners. That should give you an idea of where my skills come from."

Hanji became interested in what Isabel was saying. "Wait. You were taken in?" She asked.

Nodding, Isabel answered, "Yes. Levi and I go way back. You see, I was a troublemaker. As I grew, we both lost contact with one another and I started doing more stupid things for attention. The government didn't want a rebel like me to get married, so they sent out hitmen to kill me."

"Hitmen?!" Hanji cried with her mouth full.

I wanted to change the subject, because I never knew that happened to Isabel. I felt like shit. "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full like that," I told my wife who realized what she was doing wrong.

But my cousin continued her story anyway. "Yes… I knew they were hitmen because of their fancy clothes. I was minding my own business when a man dressed in a suit held me at gunpoint. All of a sudden this huge group of guys swarm in on this jackass and beat him to a pulp! The leader of the group came up to me afterwards and asked if I wanted to join him. So, I did. And that leader was Eren."

"What's he like?" Hanji asked again. "What is it like being in his group?"

"He's…" Isabel tried to come up with words. "Eren is like a father to us. He makes sure we are well taken care of and trains us to be strong. We are basically one giant family."

Hanji faced the plate with a sad face. "It must be nice to have a family that supports one another. I…was an orphan, so I think you're very fortunate." I could relate with some of what she said.

"Yeah," My cousin continued after taking a sip of her wine. "Eren changed my life. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him."

"One big happy family," I poignantly thought to myself out loud. My cousin was lucky. I almost wanted to thank Eren for what he did. He saved my cousin's life and trained her to be unstoppable; the only family I truly had left. My train of thought was interrupted when Isabel touched my arm. "Let's not get sentimental over here," she chuckled. My cousin noticed our empty plates and beamed.

"Thank you for the food," I told her, and so did my wife.

"No problem!" My cousin was so proud of herself. "Dessert, anyone?"

"I think I'm good," Hanji replied.

Just as I was about to reject my cousin's offer, all of the lights in the house shut off on their own and we were forced to sit in the dark. However, it was just after sunset, so we could still see each other's faces. "What the hell?" I cried and checked on Hanji who was clearly startled.

Isabel stood up from the chair. "A power outage at _this_ time? Is it snowing outside?"

I got up from my seat as well and looked out of the nearest window. There was some snow from the last time it precipitated, but that was all. The sky was clear of any snowflakes. Now, the calm weather wasn't what concerned me. What really alarmed me, was the fact that _all_ of the other houses in the neighborhood were unaffected. Every single one of them had power. "It _isn't_ snowing. And _we_ are the only ones."


	12. The Darkness

**Hello everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to write. I've been drowning in what is known as life. X3 I hope you enjoy!  
**

 **Also, to my guest reviewers: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO CONTINUE THIS HORRIBLE EXCUSE OF A FANFIC! XD YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY WITH YOUR KIND WORDS! YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! :)  
**

* * *

"What do you mean we are the only ones without power?!" Isabel cried, not realizing how loud she was. I sighed and turned around to look at my cousin. I told her exactly what I saw outside: all the houses in the neighborhood had power except for us. She immediately took out her phone from her pocket to make sure it was still fully charged. "I hope your phone is charged, Levi."

I quickly checked my phone as well, but noticed something. We had no reception, which was strange because the cell tower was working fine outside. "Mine's alive, but we can't call anyone."

"Shit, your right." My cousin noticed too and paced back and forth. The house got darker and darker, for the sun was leaving the sky. Hanji stood up and walked towards me, shivering. It was starting to get cold in the house fast. Although I had a fireplace, I rarely ever used it and never bought more wood for it. And I couldn't buy more because I didn't have a car, thanks to the accident. "What should we do?" she asked with concern.

"There should be a bunch of candles in the garage. With the heater out, those should keep us warm." I replied and went to get my jacket hanging by the door. Isabel widened her eyes and stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To get the candles. The garage is separate from the house, but it's close by."

"No!" Isabel scolded me. "What if someone's out there? You'll get hurt."

"I'll be fine, Isabel. I won't be long. Besides, we don't know what exactly caused the outage."

"You just came out from the hospital! I'm not going to risk you getting taken or killed again! Same thing goes for your wife!"

I couldn't argue with my cousin. "Alright. _You_ go."

"Where are the candles?" Isabel asked as she took my jacket and put it on. I told her that they were in a cardboard box next to the table where all the tools go. She fixed herself up and made sure her gun was in the pouch attached to her belt, as well as a miniature flashlight in the pouch next to it. She walked to the front door, but before she left, she turned to us. "I'm going to look for the power box to see if it was tampered with and to turn the lights back on. If it doesn't work, we'll have to deal with candles and flashlights for now. Stay together, and whatever you do, _don't_ leave the house."

My cousin quietly left after we understood her words. I shut the door to prevent cold air from coming in. Hanji stood there and watched, unsure of what to do. "Do you think someone is messing with us again?" She asked me. I could barely see her face anymore, so I walked past her and went to a closet. "Maybe," I answered her as I took out two flashlights and switched them on. I handed one of them over to my wife and she took it. "It's likely there's someone here. Or maybe I didn't pay the electric bill," I said.

"I hope you didn't pay it." She grinned.

"Yeah, me too." I sighed again. I brought her with me to find more blankets and warm clothes to wear in the meantime. Hanji went up the stairs beside me and we went into the bedroom. I asked Hanji to point our flashlights into the closet so I can see and I used both of my hands to search for fleece blankets. Hanji cautiously looked around to make sure nobody was watching us, and I had to remind her to keep the lights still. "Isabel is taking a long time," she stated. "I hope she's okay."

"She'll be fine," I reassured her as I pulled out two fleece blankets from the closet. "She knows how to defend herself, I trust."

Hanji shrugged as I wrapped one blanket around her and took one of the flashlights back. She thanked me, but was still worried about Isabel. She cared about my cousin very much and wanted the best for her even though they just met. Hanji considered my cousin her newly found friend and was afraid of losing her. Before we left the room, I remembered to grab my pocket knife from the drawer… just in case.

Suddenly, we heard a crash. It came from the kitchen. Turning our flashlights off, I told Hanji to stay behind me and I looked over the balcony next to the stairs to see if anyone was there. "Isabel?" I called. No answer. Instead, a dark figure walked to the living room and I thought it was looking at us. It just stood there, in the darkness. It wasn't Isabel. I grabbed Hanji's arm and ran to the guest bedroom. Inside, I locked the bedroom door and we ran into the walk-in closet, shutting the door as well. Our room didn't have a walk-in closet, so I was grateful that the guest room did. We sat down together and turned our flashlights on to see our faces. "This can't be happening again!" Hanji was very scared.

I checked my phone again to see if there was any reception. Miraculously, there was one bar. "I'm going to call her," I said as I dialed my cousin's number. I waited for an answer, but it kept ringing. "Come on! Pick up!"

"Levi," Hanji pulled on my sleeve and stared at the door.

Isabel didn't answer, so I dialed the number again. "Pick up, damn it!"

"Levi!"

"What?" I replied with annoyance. My wife covered my mouth and pointed at the door. Someone was trying to get into the bedroom; I could hear the knob being turned. I hung up and remained silent. We were calm, but our hearts were racing with anxiety. Then, the sound of the door being kicked open frightened my wife and caused her to cling on to me in fear. We heard footsteps; at first, they were distant and soft. But they got louder. And closer. I searched for my pocket knife and stood up. I had enough of being afraid of defending myself. If the intruder opened the door, I was going to pounce on them. Hanji went as far back as possible, shielding her body with the fleece blanket like a scared child. I did not want to risk her getting hurt; she went through enough pain. It was my job to protect her.

The moment the door swung open, I tackled the intruder to the ground. I tried to stab him with the small knife, but he smacked it from my hands and pushed me aside. He then came over and held me down to assault me with his fists. I did everything I could to fight back, but I was simply too weak and too much in pain to do so. Just then, I saw another figure wrap a wire around the man's neck. Pulling back, the man grabbed the wire and tried to breathe while being dragged across the room. I wearily sat up and searched for the flashlight. When I turned it on, the light revealed Hanji, strangling the intruder with the wire. She used every bit of strength she had in her body and pulled as hard as she could while the man gasped for air. He threw his head back and hit Hanji's face, making her let go of the wire and fall to the floor. However, she scrambled to her feet again and tackled the man before he could catch her. The man was trying to grab her, and she had trouble holding him still, so she felt along the floor and found the pocket knife he smacked out of my hands.

Then, with a loud grunt, Hanji threw her arm down and stuck the pocket knife into the man's chest. She pulled it out and stabbed him again, and again. She didn't stop until he was dead. Realizing that the man was nothing but a corpse, Hanji stopped and tried to catch her breath after throwing the knife aside. There was some blood on her hands and her shirt, but she didn't seem to care.

"You… you killed him." I stared at the body with disbelief. I never imagined someone like Hanji to do such a thing.

Hanji nodded and stood to her feet. "I wanted to save you."

I shook my head and didn't understand. "Why?"

My wife went over to me and held out her hand for me to take. "You did the same for me." She smiled at me and helped me stand up. I was ashamed for being too weak… but I was also grateful that Hanji took it upon herself to defend me. I guess family is a two-way street after all.

Then it hit me. "Isabel!" I ran out of the room and rushed down the stairs. My wife rushed after me, telling me to wait for her. I went straight for the front door and swung it open. A breeze of cold air chilled our bodies. Little snowflakes fell from the sky as we headed for the garage. It had gotten a bit hazy and we couldn't see down the road very well. The door to the garage was already open, and when we went inside, we saw my cousin laying on the floor with the gun in her hands. "Isabel!" I yelled and went over to check on her. She was alive, but unconscious. She bled from her head, meaning that the man knocked her out before she could stop him. "She's just unconscious," I felt relieved.

"What do we do now?" Hanji asked.

"I'm calling Eren," I replied and searched for Isabel's phone. I took it out from the jacket pocket and looked in her contacts. Hanji decided to go to the power box and switch the electricity back on. When she flipped all the switches, she peeked out from the garage and saw that the house lit up from the inside. The intruder must have broken into the garage and tried to scare us by shutting the power off. After hanging up, I picked my cousin up and carried her to the house, my wife following behind me.

* * *

"That didn't take very long," said Eren, the moment he arrived at our house along with a few of his companion who guarded the door. After listening to him tell us how terrible we looked, I told him everything that happened and showed my cousin lying on the couch, still unconscious. "I leave you guys alone for a few hours and this happens. How unfortunate." The young man shook his head.

"She tried to protect us," Hanji cried. "She tried."

"I believe you." Eren took her shoulders and took a good look at her. He noticed the blood on her shirt. "I almost don't want to ask."

My wife looked down. She turned around and went up the stairs, and Eren hesitantly followed her. We went into the guest room, and when Hanji turned on the light, she gestured toward the dead body on the carpeted floor. Eren blinked, surprised that it was even there. "Well shit, Hanji. Looks like you finally came out of your shell."

"That's what I said," I scoffed.

My wife pouted and folded her arms. "A 'thank you' would be nice."

Eren shook his head and knelt to the dead man to take a good look at his face. Eren thought he looked familiar, but wasn't sure if it was his mind playing a trick on him. "How strange," he said. "It's as if I've met him before…"

We heard someone running up the stairs. When the door was pushed open, Hanji and I turned around defensively, while Eren stood up in a heartbeat and realized who was there. "Isabel? You're up so soon?"

She was still bleeding from her head, but it wasn't a serious injury. She was taking deep breathes to ignore the pain. "Wait! Guys! That man…"

Eren was confused. "Are you alright? What about him?"

"That man… used to be one of us! I know because… he was giving information to the government about us in secret!"

Then, it hit Eren harder than a truck. He must have remembered everything. "But… that was so long ago!"

"What does that have to do with us?" I asked, and the young man urged us to leave the room. "If he was spying on us this entire time," Eren began, "That means he found out about you and whatever the government wants from you both. And that man your wife killed could have been their only informant. We need to leave."

Before I could say anything else, Eren ordered his two other companions to bring Hanji and I to their truck outside while he dealt with my cousin and the dead body. More snow was falling, yet we couldn't get our winter jackets in time to keep us warm. During the drive to who-knows-where, Hanji realized how much danger we were in and yearned to live a normal life again. Everything was happening so fast. I understood what Eren said, but that man wasn't trying to get info out of us… he was going to kill us. Nothing made sense.

The only decent part about the entire occurrence was the fact that I might see my mother again. But I didn't cross my fingers. Who knows? She might be one of them.


	13. The Haven

**So I decided to make this chapter longer because I love you all that much. :3**

 **Also, I'm beginning to think this story might go on longer than expected. If I do, this will be the longest story I've written so far! I want to keep the story at a max of 20 chapters if possible, though. I promise to not drag the story on any longer than that! :D**

* * *

When I asked Eren of where we were going, he simply described it as a base and told me nothing more. I wanted to ask again, but he just gave me that same expression on his face like he always made: stoic and unfeeling. So, I left the young man alone as he looked out of the truck's window as we rode our way to what I had imagined was a military base. While sitting in silence, I wondered what he was thinking about and what he had been through. His past was something that I had hoped would come up in a conversation in the future. Perhaps he was like me; a child born from matched parents who constantly fought. Perhaps he was like Hanji; an orphan carrying huge potential with no clear future in mind. Or, just maybe, he was like Isabel, a troublemaker who just needed direction. Whoever he was, I wanted to know, because the attitude he constantly gave off wasn't an optimistic one.

The truck eventually came to a full stop, and I looked out the window. We arrived at the base, but it was nothing like I had imagined it would be. It was a ten-story apartment building located far from the main streets of the city, and sat deep into the ghetto. When Hanji and I hopped out of the truck, we glanced around at the poorly lit streetlights, trash bags sprawled out on the sidewalks, rotting houses and graffiti on every wall. There were even a few people standing around watching us, each gender wearing both skimpy and baggy clothing. Downtown was bad enough, but the area Eren brought us to was even worse. Eren told his companions of what to do with the dead body Hanji killed, and hopped out of the truck along with Isabel. "Where the hell are we?" I asked, as I had never been to a slum.

"Welcome to our home, Big Brother!" My cousin wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

I scoffed. "When he said it was a base, I expected something extravagant."

"You watch too many movies," Eren added himself in, while walking past us.

"I find it interesting, really," My wife spoke, although uneasy since there were people staring at us. "I never expected _this_ , out of all places… but I can understand."

"Look at that! Your wife is more accepting than you!" Isabel laughed at me as I shoved her away.

"You guys coming or not?" Eren called, already at the entrance to the building. When we came over to him, he unlocked the door and we followed him inside together. On the main floor, the walls in the hallways were covered in graffiti and writing. Some of the lights flickered, creeping Hanji out to the point where she held my hand. Eren soon brought us to the stairs. "Can't we take the elevator?" My wife asked.

"It's broken," Isabel replied. "It fell down the shaft one day. No one was hurt, but we were never able to fix it."

"Oh," Hanji frowned. I told her to deal with it and follow Eren because he was already ahead of us. Once we climbed one flight of stairs, we were met by two armed guards at the second-floor entrance and Eren told them to stand down. Once he explained what was going on, the guards agreed to let us in, and the door led us to a new, clean hallway with no spray paint on the walls and plenty of apartments. "This floor is where my comrades and I live and work," Eren told us. "The upper floors, or the Residence Floors, are where you two will be staying in."

"That means you'll have new neighbors!" Isabel said happily.

"It's so quiet," I was surprised at the silence. I figured it would be a busy place, considering it was a place of an organization. Eren shrugged and continued to show us around. He brought us to each apartment, many of which had about a dozen of his companions in. I saw a few of them sitting at desks with three computers on each one, looking at different things in the monitors. Eren then announced his presence as well as my wife and I's, telling everyone that we were new Residents. His companions were extremely considerate; they came over to us with smiles on their faces and welcomed us to the organization. Hanji's face blushed up, overwhelmed by their kindness. I just quietly went with it, receiving hugs and pats on my back.

"Welcome to the family!" A man gladly said. I nodded, and Isabel elbowed me. "See what I told you?" she said. "We are a family."

"I see," I replied.

My cousin then glowered at me. Another person came up to me and held out his hand for me to shake it. But, I did not want to. "Don't be anti-social, Big Brother," Isabel said again.

I blinked. For my cousin, I shook the guy's hand, and he left. "That's the spirit!" My cousin cried, and I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Come on," Eren came back over to us. "Let's go upstairs."

The four of us walked into the hallway again, headed for the stairs. "How many people live here?" Hanji asked Eren.

"As far as Residents go… three hundred and thirty-six, including you two."

"Wow," My wife was amazed, but expected a larger number. "How interesting."

Isabel nodded and added, "We had more, but half of them left us for different reasons."

"I admit… we were never a huge organization. But we're something." Eren continued, and was about to go into the stair well when I stopped him. We had completely missed an apartment at the very end of the hall. "Hey, what about that one? We didn't go in there."

The young man turned to see which room I was talking about. "That room is private."

"Oh. Okay." I was disappointed, but decided to move on. However, Eren immediately grabbed my shoulders tightly and stared into my eyes. "Never go in that room. If I _ever_ catch you inside, there _will_ be consequences. Got it?"

"Got it, jeez," I narrowed my eyes at him. Eren let me go and left the opposite way to his room as if nothing happened. "The hell is his problem?"

"It's better that you listen to him," Isabel told me. "He's always been like this to newcomers."

"I bet whatever's in that room is nothing but useless junk." I annoyedly made my way up the stairs, telling my hesitant wife to come with me.

Isabel sighed and spoke to herself. "Not exactly…"

When I arrived at the third floor with Hanji, some of the Residents stood by their apartment door watching us with interested faces and we felt awkward. Isabel, running up behind us, told everyone to go inside because they were being rude. While they did, she unlocked the door of the last apartment at the end of the hallway. "This is where you'll stay," she gestured. "It's fully furnished, and we'll supply you with anything you need."

Hanji walked inside first, and then I did. The apartment was small, but comfy. It was well maintained and smelled of air freshener. It reminded me of a hotel room, but slightly bigger. "I really like this," Hanji smiled.

"It's alright." I folded my arms.

"I'm glad you like it!" My cousin said. "If you want, I'll let you both sleep. I'll talk to Eren, too."

"I would love to meet the others," Hanji said to herself, but too loudly for us to hear.

Isabel giggled. "Well, it's getting late. Maybe tomorrow, I suppose. Goodnight, guys." She closed the door after giving me the key and I studied it while Hanji gave herself a tour of the apartment. That was fast, I thought.

"This place is so adorable," Hanji said, coming back from her little tour she made for herself. "It's been so long since I've been in an apartment!"

I agreed with her, as I've never lived in one myself. Then, out of nowhere, I remembered something and frowned. "Hanji…" I called my wife.

"Yes?"

"What were you going to tell me?"

"What do you mean?" She was lost.

I turned to her. "When Isabel told us to rest…we were talking. You said there was something you wanted to tell me."

Hanji's face turned completely blank. As I waited for a response, silence overcame us and the ticking sound of a wall clock could be heard in the distance. I didn't understand why it was taking her so long to answer me. "Hanji…?"

My wife started cracking up; she was so abrupt that it nearly scared me. "Ah! I can't seem to remember!"

"Are you sure…? Because it seemed pretty impor-"

"Ugh, I'm tired," Hanji cut me off and yawned. "We should really get some sleep, Levi."

I said nothing this time. My wife then gave me a hug, and skipped off to the room, shutting the door behind her without saying goodnight to me.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

The next morning, I awoke to loud knocking coming from the front door. I had been sleeping on the sofa in the family room, so the noise was easy to catch. For whatever reason, Hanji didn't let me into the bedroom last night. After acting quite strange, she went inside and never came back out. When I asked to come in, she never answered me, so I left her alone. It took me forever to fall asleep; not only was the sofa uncomfortable as shit, I overthought nonstop about my wife and the situation we were in. One moment ago, we were home but now we were in a place where people could protect us. Although, for whatever reason, I didn't feel comfortable there. At least not yet. It all seemed too good to be true.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." After getting up, I walked over to the door as someone continued to knock and opened it. There stood a young woman of Asian descent with a black pixie cut, and beside her was a little boy holding a plastic box. "Good morning, Levi," said the woman.

"Morning… who are you?"

"Mikasa," she replied. "I apologize if I was rude. I work with Eren as well. He told me about you and your wife after I came back from running some errands."

I blinked. "I see… nice to meet you, I guess."

She grinned and gestured towards the little boy. "This is Armin. When he heard about you two, he begged to me to come over."

I glanced over to the five-year-old boy and recognized his face. "Holy shit. It's you."

"You know him?" Mikasa asked, amazed.

"Just a few days ago, we saved him. He was lost at the mall and we reunited him with his grandfather… how can he be here?" I was in disbelief. Mikasa frowned and covered the boy's ears. "You see," she began. "His mother was mentally unstable. The grandfather took care of him most of the time, also. But I saved him when we found out that the government was looking for Armin due to… the 'risk of him passing whatever his mother had down.' And they took his family away, leaving him alone. Now I'm in charge of keeping him safe."

I looked at Armin again, who wondered what we were talking about. "That's really fucked up."

When Mikasa let Armin go, he turned to her. "Can I give it to him now?" He asked. The young woman nodded, and Armin smiled. "This is for you and Hanji! Welcome to our family!" He offered me the plastic box in his hands. I took it and opened it up. There was a pile of sugar cookies with poorly decorated frosting designs inside. "Thank you… Hanji's going to like this." After thanking Armin, I remembered that my wife still hadn't come out of the room. I told Mikasa to give me a moment and went off to get her. "Hanji! Get up! We have guests!" I yelled after opening the room door. Then I saw her; fully dressed and had the window wide open. She didn't expect me to barge in. "Oh, good morning!"

"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.

"N-nothing!" She smiled and casually waked past me after slamming the window shut.

When Armin saw my wife, he immediately ran to her and hugged her waist. "Hanji! I missed you!"

Puzzled, my wife looked at me, and I explained what was going on. She didn't fully understand, but went with it. "Armin? It's really you!"

"I gave Levi sugar cookies and he said you would love them." Armin cried.

"Wow," She chuckled, although uncomfortable. Hanji noticed Mikasa walking towards her and froze. The young woman introduced herself and explained everything she told me not too long ago, this time more clearly. "Oh, I get it now," My wife sighed with relief.

"Anyway," Mikasa announced. "I came up here not only to meet you two, but to bring you downstairs. Eren is having a meeting."

"Why bring _us_?" I questioned.

"Not so sure myself. He never allows any of the Residents to his meetings. But I suppose you two are an exception."

"Does that mean you're leaving?" Armin asked us with a sad face. Mikasa knelt to his level and took his shoulders. "They're not leaving, Armin. They're just going to see Eren for a while and come back. You can play with that kid you like next door to us while we're gone. Ok?"

Armin soon nodded with a beam, his blond hair swinging from his head. He excitedly ran out of the apartment to go play with a friend. "Come on," Mikasa then told us. "We should go now. Your cousin is down there waiting for you too, Levi."

"You found out that I'm related to Isabel, I see?" I folded my arms.

Mikasa grinned as she led us to the door. "Of course. Everyone knows everyone here, so it's impossible to keep things a secret."

After she said that, my wife became serious yet remained silent. We followed Mikasa after she left the apartment, and I thought about what Mikasa said just then, relating it with Hanji. "Yeah, no secrets," I said to myself.

I had a bad feeling that she was hiding something important from me.


	14. The Question

**I'm just putting this here so no one gets confused in the future:**

 **In this fanfic, Eren is 19 (like in the manga currently), Mikasa is 18, Armin is 5, Levi is around 30-34, Hanji is around 25-29, and Isabel is around 20-23. XD**

 **Also, please let me know if I have revealed things too early... I've been contemplating on whether or not to add it to this chapter, but I did anyway. If it seems rushed I'll be more than glad to fix it!**

 **Either way I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

I began to feel uneasy the moment Hanji and I entered the apartment of Eren's meeting that Mikasa called us for. The air around us wasn't as cheery or down to earth as it was the night before. Instead, everyone was serious and upset. Especially Eren, who had just walked out from another room and slammed the door shut. Mikasa caught his attention and he looked at us. "Oh, you're both here. Good."

"What did you call us for?" I asked.

Eren ignored me and went to find a chair. "You'll find out in a second," Mikasa answered my question and I looked at my wife, who for some reason appeared to be nervous. "Are you okay?" I then asked her. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"I'm fine," she simply said without looking at me.

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

Hanji shook her head. "I don't know."

It took me a moment to realize what she said; but when I did, someone yelled for everyone to shut up because Eren was going to speak. The leader of the organization stood on a chair in the center of the crowd of his companions, just as I figured he would do, and the entire apartment fell silent. "Good morning, everyone." Eren began. Everyone except Hanji and I said the same thing back to him in unison. "I'm sure all of you must be wondering why I called for an urgent gathering at _this_ time of day," He continued. "It's because we have an issue on our hands. Last night, Isabel caught an intruder who had the intentions of capturing one of our Residents." Eren paused for a moment and studied the crowd. When he saw me, he raised his hand and pointed. "That Resident is Levi."

Everyone turned their heads toward me and they whispered to one another. I didn't expect Eren to put me on the spot, but I wasn't surprised that I was the intended victim. "This man," Eren continued, referring to the intruder. "He invaded our home in a threatening matter. Isabel and I questioned him all night long, but he never identified himself. Now… I know all of you wanted to start discussing our mission today. And we can start by first questioning this man ourselves to find out who he's working for. Sound good?" Eren's companions agreed and started encouraging him to bring the intruder out.

Eren hopped off the chair and yelled for Isabel to come out. When he did, my cousin suddenly kicked the door open and threw a tall, middle aged man with his hands tied up out in the open so all of Eren's companions could see. I watched the man squirm about on the floor, trying to escape. Everyone except for Hanji and I gave the man threatening words and eyes. Isabel came over and sat the man up while Eren stood before him as if it was the man's judgement day. "Look at you." Eren began, studying the intruder. "What a disgrace. Working for people who murder and steal… you make me sick."

Eren knelt to the man's level. "I won't be tough on you though… as long as you cooperate. Deal?"

The man growled under his breath and spat on Eren's face. "I'm not telling you shit."

The leader just grinned and took out a cloth from his pocket to wipe his face with. "I'll let this slide. Like every human being does, we tend to lose control of our emotions." Eren then turned his head to look for me and told me to come over. Hesitant, I turned to my wife, and then to Mikasa, who told me to trust him. So, I did and saw the intruder's face. Beneath all that confidence was insecurity. Eren stood up. He took my shoulder and faced the man on the floor. "Now tell me. This is the person you targeted, correct?"

"Never seen him before in my life." The man simply stated.

"Oh really? That's not what you said to us last night."

Isabel told the man to stop lying and smacked him upside his head. "She's right, you know," Eren added.

The man sighed with annoyance. "Fine. Yes, that is him."

"And why were you targeting him?" Eren questioned.

"I was just following orders," The man replied, although he was still being dishonest.

The leader scoffed. "Well, no shit!"

I didn't want to be a part of this, but I couldn't help myself. "I want to know who he works for." Eren glanced at me, although not surprised. He wanted to know as well as everyone else in the apartment. "I was getting to that, but since Levi asked, I'll just jump right into it." Eren went straight for it. "I'm going to ask you three times. The first time will be nice. The second will be nice. The third time… not so much." When Eren said that, someone decided to hand him a metal pipe and he took it.

The man chuckled. "Do whatever you want to me. I'm won't tell you shit! Might as well kill me now."

"True. But that wouldn't be fun, now would it?" Eren told me to move aside as he knelt to the man's level again. "Who do you work for?"

"Fuck you and your pathetic posse."

"Who do you work for?" Eren repeated himself and remained calm. I went back to the spot I was originally standing in, and Hanji watched what was happening with fear in her eyes. She didn't even notice that I was beside her. The man scoffed again and looked around. "Do you really think you're a hero? This little game you're playing needs to stop. You can't save everyone you meet out on the streets. Besides… I've done a bit of research on you and your family history… a dirty past surrounded by filthy creatures. It's no wonder we wiped out your loved ones. Hell, if anyone should be the hero, it should be me! Where's _my_ reward, huh?"

I noticed that Eren was beginning to snap. I watched him grab the man's shirt and pull him close to Eren's face. "I'm really trying to be nice. I really am. But if you can't answer a simple question…" The leader didn't finish.

The man had no fear. "Like I said before. Fuck you."

Eren nodded and stood up. He told Isabel to let the man go, and she stood up as well after doing so. "I feel sorry for you." Eren suddenly wacked the metal pipe onto the man's side. I watched as the man yelled in agony on the floor while Eren continued to beat him. "Who do you work for?!" The leader shouted.

"The government!"

"Give me a name, you piece of shit!" Eren screamed, and hit the man again. It was obvious that Eren's history truly made an impact on his behavior. For a seemingly reserved individual, I never expected him to lash out like that. I did not feel bad for the intruder, though; he deserved every inch of pain he received. I almost enjoyed watching the man suffer… it was so refreshing to see a criminal being punished before my eyes. In fact… I wished that I was the one inflicting pain on him. Don't I deserve the right to exact revenge on the ones who have ruined not only my life, but the lives of other innocent people?

"Stop!" Hanji cried out of nowhere. Eren stopped what he was doing and glanced at my wife. Everyone, including me, turned our heads to look at her with confusion. Hanji inhaled and backed away, overwhelmed by all the attention she caused. My wife went over to the man and checked on him. "Hanji? What are you doing? Get away!" I demanded.

"This isn't necessary!" Hanji looked at Eren. "By doing this, you're only stooping down to _his_ level!"

"Hanji," Eren blinked at her, almost in disbelief. "This man has helped cause the deaths of innocent men, women, _and_ children, and you're worried about me _abusing_ him?"

My wife shook her head. "N-no, it's not that…" Before she could continue, the man groaned and opened his eyes. He saw her face and gasped. "It's you… I know you…"

"What?" Hanji asked.

"You… you betrayed us! You bitch! Get away from me!"

My wife immediately stood up and backed away, only, she bumped into Eren doing so. She spun around and saw his intimidating eyes. Everyone else in the room whispered to one another, both confused and upset. What did the intruder mean? Was it a coincidence? Or did he just reveal something about Hanji that I didn't know about? My wife didn't know what to do or say, so she ran out of the apartment.

But I didn't want her to run away. Not again.

"Big Brother?" I heard Isabel call for me as I went after my wife. Out in the hall, I searched for any sight of Hanji, and I caught her running to the stairwell. "Hey!" I yelled, and she stopped in her tracks as I walked over to her. "What the hell was all that about?" I questioned. My wife was silent but guilty of something she was hiding inside of her. I grabbed her shoulders. "Don't you play this 'silent game' with me! Why did you stop Eren? Why did that man say you betrayed him? Is there something you're not telling me?!"

"Please calm down… you're hurting me," Hanji winced, and I let her go with frustration.

"You expect me to calm down when a man who was coming after me recognizes _you_? Are you aware of how bad this looks?"

"Yes, I am!" My wife replied, raising her voice. "You don't think I know that?"

"Jesus, Hanji. I feel like I don't even know who you are right now."

"That's because you don't!" She must have said that by accident, because she immediately regretted opening her mouth.

I just took a deep breath. I was aware that some people came out of the apartment, including my cousin, Mikasa, and Eren himself. "What are you hiding from me? Just spit it out!"

"It's not that simple, Levi."

"Not that _simple_? Really? We once promised that we'd tell each other everything. Now, I feel as if I can't trust you."

"Fine. If you really want to know, I'll tell you..." Hanji swallowed and tried to come up with words to say. "I… I was… a spy. I was a spy for the government!"

In an instant, I felt my soul leaving my body. "What…?"

Hanji inhaled. "When I married you… my job was to spy on you and send others to our location whenever you were deemed unfit for society. I… I have spied on three other men before you and each one of them died all because of me. But this last month has been so great! Over time, I began to fall for you. And I soon realized that what I doing was wrong. Ever since the car accident happened, I've been telling the government that I was out, but they didn't care. That's why I saved you at the house by killing that man. And I've been trying to find a good time to tell you this… but I just couldn't bring myself to it!"

I didn't show it, but I imagined that I was a black hole, collapsing into myself. My entire body was hollow, for everything inside of me drained. The words of my wife were a dangerous spell casted onto me; or was she really my wife? I didn't know anymore. The fuzzy feeling in my stomach was replaced with physical pain. And to think I was going to mention it to her sometime. "So… so none of this was real?" I asked her. "This entire marriage… was a fraud?"

"No, it wasn't!" Hanji quickly answered. "I want to be with you. I really do! That's why I changed!"

"You acted like a whole different person for an entire month…" I ignored her. "You're a fake, just like them…"

"But I care for you."

I snapped. "This is exactly why I isolated myself long ago. So I wouldn't have to deal with frauds like you. All you do is make people's lives worse. Congratulations, Hanji, you have officially turned my life around for the worst. Not to mention the dozens of families in this fucking building! I should beat you with the same pipe Eren used and see how you like it. Only then will you know the pain I used to feel, as well as the other victims who had to go through shitty lives."

"Levi, listen to me!" Hanji shouted with tears in her eyes. I shoved her hard and she bumped into the wall. I didn't want to hear any other word from her; I was too upset. "I never want to see you again." With that, I headed straight for the apartment Isabel assigned us when we first got there. Hanji slumped to the floor with immense regret. She was aware of the others, who most likely heard everything, but she didn't care.

I also didn't care that they watched us. Nothing mattered to me anymore. I just wanted to go home.


	15. The Plan

**Here is the full chapter! Yes, it is a little short, but believe me when I tell you: Chapter 16 will be VERY long. Thank you so much for being so patient, everyone! :)  
**

* * *

They probably hated us now. The probably hated me, too. It's been four hours since I left the meeting… the place where I found out what Hanji had been hiding from me all this time. During those four hours, I stood in the apartment by myself searching through the bedroom where Hanji slept in the night before, trying to find anything government-related that she hid away from me. The closet was empty, and the dresser had just enough clothes for two days. I checked under the bed and even looked out of the window to see if there were any vehicles outside that did not belong there. But, there were none. The bedroom seemed to be clear of any suspicious items. I grew frustrated and grabbed an empty perfume bottle that sat on top of the dresser, and threw it across the room. It shattered the moment it hit the wall. The glass fell to the floor and I did not care to clean it up.

Perhaps Hanji took the items with her and left with them. Who knows. I was just sick of her already. To think that we could have become friends, or something more than that… we could have lived an easygoing life together without any problems. I forced myself to come out of my shell and communicated with her every chance I got. I helped her when she needed me and made her feel comfortable. I gave her a necklace that contained her birthstone. Hell, we were even going to buy matching Christmas sweaters. And I got nothing in return. How could I have been so blind? I was almost annoyed with _myself_ , because I should have seen it coming. Together, we could have been the worth the universe. But she chose to be nothing. That's exactly what she was to me: nothing at all. Everything I had faith in was somehow taken away from me and beaten to death. And for what? Money? Power? To "purify" the world?

I walked to the bathroom to splash water on my face, for I grew anxious. But before I did anything, I saw my reflection in the mirror. My skin was seriously pale and I looked like I hadn't gotten sleep in weeks. Then, I began to wonder. What would it be like if I wasn't around? Would anyone miss me? Would anyone want to help? Perhaps Isabel would… then again, could I really trust her? In fact, could I trust anyone anymore? What if they were all lying to me? What if the whole organization was a trap? I just wanted to be considered. I just wanted to matter. I was afraid of losing everyone that I trust to secrets. I wanted to be strong, but in reality, I was weak. My reflection gave me a message; something needed to change. And for just a mere moment, something else told me to end it all.

I blinked and came to my senses. There was a knock on the front door. I walked out of the bathroom and headed for the door as slowly as possible. "Go away," I demanded. But whoever was outside the apartment was persistent, and I wasn't in the mood. "Leave me alone!" I yelled.

All of a sudden, the knob unlocked itself and the door was kicked open behind me. Then, a redhead ran in and wrapped her arms around me firmly. "Big Brother!" Isabel cried, rubbing her cheek against mine. "You really think you can hide from me?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to push her off. "Ugh! How'd you even get in here?"

My cousin giggled and released me. "Eren had the key." She pointed towards the threshold, referring to the young adult standing there. I sighed and fixed my shirt. "And you brought _him._ Great."

"We came here to talk." Eren then said.

I just scoffed and walked to the small, round dining table in the kitchen. "What's there to talk about?"

Eren came over and pulled a chair out to sit on. When he did, Isabel pulled a chair out for me and waited for me with a smile on her face. "You know what it is," Eren replied. I rolled my eyes and sat down. "There's nothing to talk about. You saw what happened, didn't you?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Isabel blurted and sat beside me. "You seemed really hurt."

"I'm fine. I don't need a therapy session." I was about to stand up when Eren stopped me. "I spoke to Hanji," He said.

I didn't expect this. "You… _spoke_ to her?"

The young adult nodded. "Yes. She told us everything. Who she was, what she did, and why she did it, in full detail. She seemed guilty, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and listened to her side of the story."

I shook my head and looked away. "And what was that?"

Isabel added, "Hanji was forced into being a spy, just as you were forced into getting married."

I disagreed with my cousin. "I don't believe that. She's a liar. She did it for her own personal gain."

"That's not what she told _me_ ," Eren replied, and I fell silent. Perhaps there was another side I didn't know about. "Listen," he continued. "You need to understand what it's like in other people's shoes. You may have had it hard, but so has Hanji."

I couldn't agree more. "I know…"

Eren thought about something for a moment and decided to tell me something. "Levi… do you want to know why I told you to never go through that door on the bottom floor, or else?"

I blinked. Isabel was surprised at her leader, for she knew that Eren would never speak about himself. She almost wanted to stop him. "Inside that room," Eren resumed, "Contains memories of… someone who was important to me. She was taken away… and I never saw her again. That's why I got so angry at the intruder this morning. I wanted him to learn what I had to go through."

"Okay… but what does this have to do with me…?" I questioned while folding my arms.

"My point is… no matter how much hatred consumes you… try to understand why they did what they did. A deadbeat is a deadbeat, no matter what. But Hanji… she's no deadbeat. Which is why I believed her. She wants to change, Levi. After all, she _did_ kill that man for you at your house, did she not?"

I shrugged and remembered what Hanji did at the house when the lights were out. What she did meant something to me, and I had to admit that I was grateful. But, I still couldn't help it. "You may be right. But I'm not going go by your words. I want to hear what Hanji has to say for myself. Only then will I make a conclusion."

Eren nodded. "If that'll make you feel better, then fine. Do what you want."

I remembered something. "By the way… what was the plan you were going to tell us this morning? It seemed really important, considering you called for me and Hanji."

Eren and Isabel looked at each other as if they had been discussing something mischievous. Then, my cousin smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "It is important, Big Brother. And yes, it involves you and Hanji."

"W-what?"

"After talking with your wife, Eren and I decided to discuss our plan to assassinate the mayor with everyone else… including Hanji. You are the last person we need to explain it to."

"Why me? Why not use another Resident?" I questioned again.

"Because for whatever reason, the government is particularly interested in you. We believe you have hidden qualities that stand out from everyone else in this building. We thought using you would make the plan successful. Also… your mom… we found out her status. And she can't wait to see her son again."

"She's alive?" I could hardly believe it.

My cousin nodded. "Yes. But she won't be for long. That's why we must execute this plan tomorrow afternoon."

Eren stopped her and called me. "Levi… what we're about to ask you is serious. You and Hanji need to work together in order for this to work. I will ask you to do dangerous tasks. You and Hanji may be killed in the process, as well as Isabel, or even myself. I must ask you… are you willing to risk your life for the sake of the people?"

I wanted a change. I had been waiting for this moment my entire life. I looked back at all the things I've done and realized how little of an effort I made to the world, all because I feared what was supposed to protect humanity. I heard and watched the government commit genocide way too many times, and it killed me to see the many devastated faces who had to witness their family and friends being brutally eradicated from society due to their "unacceptable traits." I thought of the children, and how they had to live with that. The children who became orphans, and the children who became the victims. I even thought of Armin, the five-year-old whose childhood was forced to face the harsh reality of his society. I didn't want any more kids growing up the way I did; being raised by parents who loathed one another. I wanted to be a part of Eren's plan. As angry as I was at Hanji, I had to do it. Not for me, but for the people. For the kids. For society. For humanity.

I hid for too long. I was ready to face my fears. After thinking long and hard, I faced Eren with confident eyes. There was no going back if I agree to be a part of his plan. "If it's for the sake of humanity… then yes. I'll do it."

Eren smiled happily, as if I had just complimented him. "Thank you, Levi."

"Yay! Big Brother's coming with us!" Isabel cheered like a kid. She got up and hugged me from behind. "I knew you would help us!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes again. My cousin was always excited to have me at her side. Eren chuckled and soon told her to sit down. "Then it's settled. Okay, listen up, as this plan will be pretty complicated. This is what we're going to do…"


	16. The Creator

**Fun fact: this chapter is ten pages long. :') Hope you enjoyed!**

* * *

It was a simple plan, really. All it took was cooperation and communication. But executing the entire scheme correctly would be the hard part, considering the type of people we were dealing with. Eren assigned the people who would be coming along with us and spent the rest of the day discussing everyone's role in the plan, and I had to stay up all night learning how to properly defend myself in the face of danger. Hanji went through the same process, but she was obviously more experienced in protecting herself than I was. Eren made sure we were prepared, because we were the only Residents of his that would be joining him on the mission.

The next morning, our team spent the entire day together with the Residents until noon. I expected them to be worried about us while we said our goodbyes, but instead they were happy for us. They appreciated what we were doing and hoped for our success… except for Armin. Being an orphan, he dreaded the day we had to leave him all alone. He saw Hanji and I and ran over to us. "Are you really going to leave?" the five-year-old asked us with a sad face. Hanji said nothing and looked to the floor. I knelt to the boy's level and took his shoulder. "Unfortunately, we do." I told him. Mikasa had found us and, when Armin noticed her, he went over to give her a hug. "I don't want you to leave… you're all I have." he said to her.

"I know," Mikasa grinned and bent over to his level as well. "But you know we can't keep hiding forever."

Armin turned to me, Hanji, and then back to Mikasa, whom he admired and loved the most. "Will you come back?"

Mikasa frowned. She knew there was no guarantee that we would return… but who could tell that to a child? "Of course, I will. We _all_ will. Just for you."

Armin held his pinky finger up towards her. "Promise me." With that, Mikasa grinned again and wrapped her pinky around his. Armin then jumped into her arms and soon gave her the red scarf he was wearing around his neck. I watched as Mikasa stood up straight to wrap the scarf around her neck. "It fits," I heard her whisper while refraining herself from crying.

"It's time," Eren announced, and soon our team began to leave the building. The Residents cheered for us, and I saw Armin waving his hand. "Come back home." He smiled and tried to be strong for us. For a child, that meant something.

* * *

As a team, there were thirty of us in total, and Eren had divided us into two groups of fifteen on the long drive to the facility in the outskirts of Downtown where the mayor was said to be. Mikasa and Hanji were in the same group as I was, and Isabel was assigned as my group's leader while Eren would oversee the other. His group were full of mostly serious, mature adults who took no nonsense whatsoever. However, my group consisted of carefree individuals who cracked jokes every opportunity they had. They were kids at heart who still had their lives ahead of them; ignoring the fact that they could die at any moment during the mission. Even Isabel and Mikasa enjoyed their time messing around with them, and Eren didn't mind at all since it would be the only time they do so as a family. I just listened to everyone laughing their asses off together while sitting beside Hanji, who looked out the window. Like always, she said nothing and played the silent game with me. I remembered that I wanted to hear her side of the story after she revealed being a spy. So, I tapped on her shoulder. "So you're just going to sit there? And not say a word?"

Hanji turned her head slightly enough to look at me from the corner of her eye. "What's there to talk about?"

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked annoyedly.

She knew what I was talking about. "I don't think we should talk about it now."

"Why? Are you afraid of me now or something?"

She turned to me completely and raised her voice. "Because I already feel horrible enough. Don't rub it in." She looked around and saw a couple of our groupmates glance at her. I folded my arms and looked at the floor. "I'm not the one at fault here."

She just sighed. "I know…" I said nothing else as she looked out the window again. She was probably thinking about everything she did and how much damage she had caused to our relationship. "You hurt me, you know. As well as everyone in this bus." I soon spoke.

"I know." Hanji admitted and glanced at me again. She was going to have to speak up, one way or another. "But you misunderstood me. I really did want to change. I never wanted to be a spy… but I had no other choice. Being married to you made me realize how important you were to me, as well as life itself. And I'm not sure if there's any other way to say this but… I have feelings for you, Levi. Which is why I wanted to make a change and quit listening to the government. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I don't want to see you hurt anymore. I've already ruined your life by marrying you. I'm sorry, Levi. For everything. Please forgive me."

I listened to her fully and took her words into consideration. She was being sincere; I could see it in her eyes. But deep down I was still upset. "I appreciate this," I stated to her. "But… I don't think I can pardon what you did just yet. That will take some time."

"I understand." She nodded and looked at the floor.

We sat in silence until the bus we were in eventually came to a halt. We had arrived. Eren went to the front of the bus and told everyone to listen up. "Alright. Remember what we're here for. Be sure to look out for one another. If there are captives, don't hesitate to save them. I have faith in you all. We've come a long way… and now it's time to take back what was stolen from us: our freedom." With that, everyone began rooting for each other, shouting and stomping their feet.

For my group, or rather, Isabel's group, we put on red face masks given to us earlier to distinguish one another, while Eren's group put on white face masks. We left the bus, prepared our weapons and soon headed towards the private property belonging to the government facility building. After breaking open the wired fences, we hurried forward and approached the building. There were only a few guards at the entrances and two people from Eren's group took them out quickly with their guns. "We're going to split up," Eren then told us. "Isabel's team, you go in from the right side of the building. My team, we go in from the left. We will reunite on the fifth floor, in room 600. That's where the mayor should be." He put his face mask on and led his group to the side entrance on the left side of the building. Isabel told the fifteen of us to follow her as well to the right side. "We got this," she said to us after kicking the doors open, and came over to me. "Be careful, Big Brother."

"You too," I replied and went inside last after putting my mask on.

Inside, the hallways were long and had marble flooring. The rectangular lights on the ceiling brightly lit the way. We stayed together and searched for any captives that may be in danger by kicking down doors. At first, all we found were science-related chemical storage rooms and research offices. Hanji refused to leave my side and payed close attention to her surroundings. Soon, a few armed guards came running around the corner toward us. In an instant, Mikasa ran forward first and shot two of them. Just as I was about to fire at them, Hanji took my place and killed the rest instantly by shooting them in their face. "I didn't expect good aim coming from you," I said to her sarcastically.

Hanji shrugged. "There are certain things you still don't know about me."

"You could say that again."

"Let's keep moving," Mikasa interrupted us and went with Isabel down the hall with the rest of our group. We continued breaking into the rooms in the hallway and killed any guards or doctors that practiced illegal things. I was sure that there would be captives in one of the rooms, but I couldn't find any… until I heard someone calling for help in a locked chamber door I passed by. "There's someone in here!" I yelled and tried to kick open the door.

One of the young males, who I remembered was named Connie during the team assignment, came over to me. "Watch out!" He said, and I moved aside while he broke the lock by shooting it repeatedly. He let me kick the door, and it swung open, revealing the pregnant woman trapped inside. "We got one!" Connie shouted, rather excitedly.

I went over to the horrified woman and helped her up. "You're safe now," I reassured her. "Thank god!" She said. "I've been here for seven months… they impregnated me by force and treated me like a fucking animal!"

I was right. The government did impregnate the wives and kill the husbands after taking samples. I recalled how it was going to be done to me. "Don't worry. It's over now." I said.

Isabel told Connie to protect the woman as we made our way to the next floor. Once the fifteen of us were up there and managed to break into many rooms with captives inside, we became surrounded by armed guards. "Shit," Isabel said out loud.

"Drop your weapons!" One of the guards screamed. We all put our hands up; however, it wasn't until Isabel managed to throw a sickle at one of them as if she was a ninja. Once he fell, everyone else began shooting the guards. I saw Isabel jump on one of the guards, punching him until unconscious. Mikasa, who got her gun smacked from her hands, caught the guard in a choke hold in a matter of seconds and flipped him to the floor. Connie enthusiastically shot and killed the guards coming after him and his close friend whom he called Sasha. And she, with a positive attitude, wrestled the guard who came from behind.

I made sure to back everyone up and protect them from the guards who attempted to kill my group members without them knowing. Seeing my group defend themselves in such creative ways made me grateful to have them as a team. " _Levi!_ " Hearing my name, I spun around and saw Hanji without her face mask on, struggling to be free from another guard's grasp. I pointed my gun toward him and demanded that he let her go. "You want this traitor to live? You must be ashamed of yourself!" He said.

"At least she's not like _your_ bitch ass!" I pulled the trigger and in a matter of seconds, the guard had a gaping hole in his neck as he fell to his demise. I was surprised that I did not miss. Hanji released herself and stood up after picking up her mask. "I guess I'm not the _only_ one with good aim," She smiled at me.

By the time the fifteen of us reached the fifth floor after hurrying the captives to the bus outside, nearly all the mayor's guards were wiped out. I had hoped to find my mother in the process, but she was nowhere. The hallways were quiet… too quiet. Nobody came to attack us anymore and we heard nobody else calling for help. We broke into each room and it was completely vacant. "It's got to be here somewhere," Isabel said, searching for room 600 with the rest of us. I looked around and searched for any doors that matched the number. "Something doesn't feel right," I told my cousin. "We should have been ambushed already."

Isabel scoffed. "I'm rather grateful we didn't." Suddenly, everyone stopped in their tracks and held their guns up when Eren's group came rushing around the corner. "You made it," he cried as he took his mask off and approached us. Isabel took off her mask as well to take a better look at him. "I'm glad you did too. Did you lose anyone?" She asked.

"Five." He realized this and seemed disappointed in himself.

Isabel touched his shoulder. "It's okay. We're all still up and running."

I looked around while they talked. Still no sign of my mother. Perhaps she was on the bus. I noticed that there was a door at the end of the hallway that was painted a different color than the rest. I walked over to it, ignoring my cousin who called for me, and searched for the number. There was only a piece of tape on the wall that had "do not enter" written on it, so I peeled it off. Engraved on the wall was indeed the number 600. "Who the fuck puts tape over a room number and writes 'do not enter?' Do they really think we're that stupid?" I asked myself so loud all my teammates heard me.

Eventually, we rammed through the door using a type of bomb Eren made and rushed inside of the large office. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and a tall window brightened the room. "Freeze!" Each one of us demanded. But to our surprise, no one was around… all except for a young, blonde teenager sitting at the desk in the middle of the office. She kept her hands at her lap and stoically watched us surround her. "We found her," Eren whispered, and then took his mask off. He leaned over the desk and went near the girl's face. "You. What's your name?"

The teen eyed Eren with no emotions and said nothing. Our leader then pointed his gun at her. "I won't ask again."

Facing away from him, the girl finally opened her mouth. "Historia Reiss."

"Glad to finally meet you. I'm pretty sure you already know who I am."

"I do." Historia replied, still without any feeling. "I also know that you've come to assassinate me."

"Aren't you smart."

Something didn't add up. "Wait," I said and observed the teenager. "You're awfully young to be a mayor."

Historia slowly turned her head to see me. "You're never too young to be a leader."

I remembered last month of the time Hanji and I went to a store, and upon going inside, I noticed a poster of a girl with long, flowing blonde hair. However, I expected the mayor to be a grown adult because minors weren't allowed to be employed government jobs. "Impossible. You're just a kid. Tell us who you really are." I demanded.

"I already have. I am the mayor. And you have come to kill me."

"Hey now," I leaned over the desk. "Behind me is a team who are trained in the art of wiping out bad people. You might want to start talking before they become impatient."

Historia soon turned her head and looked at the camera sticking out of the wall. When she faced me again, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I can't. They're watching me."

"Who is?"

"I'm… not allowed to say. If they find out…" she raised her hand that had a metal bracelet on her wrist with a red light on it. "I'll be electrocuted."

She was trying to scare us. "Just say it."

The teen looked at the camera again and then sighed. "I'm not the mayor. I was assigned to just fill in the space. It's her way of hiding her identity from the world."

I glanced over at Eren, who couldn't believe it. " _She_?" He asked the teen.

"Yes." She nodded, and her eyes began to show color again. "They gave me plenty of information about you and told me what to say if you ever came. But I never wanted this. To be honest… I don't mind being shocked to death at this point."

"She's innocent," I heard Hanji speaking to herself. "We can't punish her."

Eren didn't understand. He and Isabel did everything they could to track the mayor's identity down. But they failed. "If she's not the mayor… then who is?"

All of a sudden, the light on the teen's bracelet turned green and she immediately dropped to the floor after receiving a violent shock. Before I could go to her, soldiers came rushing in and surrounded us, blocking the main exit so we wouldn't be able to escape. They aimed right for us and demanded that we take our masks off, as well as drop our weapons. Soon, I heard a woman whistling. Her heels tapped the floor as she walked into the middle of the room where Historia sat. The woman had long, jet-black hair with white streaks in it and wore a formal uniform. When she turned around, she studied each one of us with a huge smile on her face as if she had been reunited with family. "Well isn't _this_ a nice surprise!"

She looked familiar. Way too familiar. In fact… I knew her. I knew those steel blue eyes and the warmth of her soothing voice. And it hit me. "Mom?"

"Levi," My mother breathed the moment she noticed me. She went over to me and touched my cheeks. "Wow… you're a man now. I'm so happy to see you again." She stroked my hair and I stared at her face. There were lines beginning to show on her skin, but she still had plenty of youth left. Nevertheless, she hadn't changed a bit in my eyes. "Mom…" I tried to come up with words to say. This was not how I wanted to reunite with her. "You're the mayor?"

She spoke with a voice that was trying to sugarcoat everything to make me feel better. "Of course, my little Duckling. How do you think I found you?"

I felt real, physical pain. "Why…? Why would you become such a horrible person?"

She let me go and chuckled, but something I said must have triggered her emotionally. "Oh, Levi. I thought you knew. But it's not your fault, really… after all… you did leave me alone for fifteen years."

I jerked my head towards Isabel and Eren. "You said you knew her status! Why did you hide this from me?!"

"We knew she was alive, but we didn't know she was the damn mayor." Eren replied.

"I'm just as shocked as you are, Big Brother." Isabel then answered. I then went over to Hanji and grabbed her shoulders. "You," I yelled. "You were working with my mother?!" My wife said nothing and nodded hesitantly. I cursed and let her go.

My mother blinked at me. "I feel like I'm not welcome here. Have I said something wrong?"

I pointed at my mother. "Everything went wrong the moment you walked in here!"

"Oh." My mother pretended to be offended. "Jesus, Levi. That's certainly not a great way to speak to the woman who created you. And you're one to talk. After what you did? What was I supposed to do? You think I'm the monster. But you left me alone with someone even worse: your father. So, you know what I did? I made dinner for him one night and spiked his favorite alcoholic beverage. I watched him flop like a fish out of water; and frankly, it was quite funny. I still laugh at that memory today!" My mother giggled at herself as everyone watched her uneasily. "After that, I did some homework." My mother continued. "I had nobody else to turn to, so I needed to fend for myself. I grew a pair of balls and managed to take your father's place as a government employee. I made my way to the top by pulling some strings, and _boom!_ Here I am now. Eventually, I decided to search for you, Levi. It did take some time… but once I met Hanji, I matched her with you and ordered her to spy on you to see how _you_ would like it. However, when she told me that she was done with me, I sent dangerous men after you as punishment so that you wouldn't be able to develop feelings for her. If I can't love, then you can't love. It was simple. I had so much faith in your wife, Levi. Hanji was stubborn, indeed. But she knew the consequences if she ever disobeyed me. Isn't that right?" My mother referred to my wife, who hid behind me. She both empathized and feared my mother.

Isabel shook her head and blurted, "So, let me get this straight. You manipulated people in order to get revenge on your only son, who had no other choice but to escape the hell he was raised in?"

My mother turned to her niece and nodded. "Correct. You're so smart now, Isabel! I'm proud that you finally decided to quit sticking needles into your arms and using your body for money. You're a truly changed woman!"

With that, my cousin was filled with rage and came after my mother. However, one of the soldiers caught her and held her back. I was shocked at my mother; she would never say something so disgusting like that to her family members, especially Isabel. Hanji had enough and decided to step forward. "Kuchel, listen to me!" She cried. "I'm so sorry for betraying you. I really am. But you have to understand that nobody is perfect. Your son did only what he thought was best for himself and desired freedom. I changed my ways because, yes, I began to have feelings for him. But that doesn't mean you should punish your child just because you couldn't deal with him being gone! You are not the only one who was abused and hurt. You're better than this!"

My mother frowned and scoffed. She turned to the desk and leaned on it to think of something to say. I couldn't stand my mother acting like the scoundrel she turned into. But perhaps I did fail her as her son. "Mom. I apologize. I admit that… leaving you without any form of contact was my worst mistake. But believe me when I tell you…I did not want to take you with me because I knew that the government would find out you were separated from my father and take you away forever. I preferred that it was me rather than you. I never hated you, mom. I would never stoop so low."

"Bullshit!" My mother suddenly screamed. "If you _did_ love me, you would have at least tried to contact me and let me know that you were alright. You know what! Let me ask you something, Levi, since you want to come up with this nonsense. Who do you love more: me or your _beautiful_ wife?"

I didn't know how to answer.

Isabel freed herself from the soldier's grasp and came forward again with something to say. "Kuchel, do you not remember all of the things you have done? All of the good times you spent playing with your little boy? How kind you used to be towards even complete strangers?! Would you _truly_ punish your only child who only left because he was afraid?! If anything, _your_ ass should have escaped with Levi a long time ago while he was still little!"

My mother just laughs at her. "Ah, I remember how close you and Levi used to be as kids." She then faced me again. "Tell me Levi… do you love her too?"

I growled under my breath and had enough of everything happening. "What you are doing is ridiculous, mom! This is proof that you turned into your husband! Not _once_ have I resented your existence! Stop this bullshit and tell your men to stand down!"

"I admire how mature you've become over the years," She replied with that stupid smile on her face. "Really, I do. But… I'm afraid that I still don't believe you. Curse at me, scream at me… I don't care." With a snap of her fingers, two soldiers took Hanji and Isabel, and my mother was given a gun that she used to point at my cousin and wife's head. "Let's play a game, Levi. You're going to tell me which of these two you love the most. If you say Isabel, Hanji goes down. And if you say Hanji, _Isabel_ will go down. But if you tell me both… neither of them will be leaving this room alive."

"Please don't do this," I nearly begged my mother. My wife and cousin looked at me with fearful eyes and didn't know what to do. I had to make a choice, yet I did not want them to die because of me. I appreciated my cousin dearly, for she was always there to help me, and vice versa when we were little. Hanji on the other hand… I had developed a soft spot for her as time passed, but I never wanted to admit it because I did not know if it was real or not. I was ashamed of being related to my mother; she had turned into a cold, manipulative, and murderous woman whose intent was to get rid of the "scum" of society.

"Doing this won't solve anything," Eren finally spoke to the mayor. He was afraid of losing his friends the same way he lost that person who used to be close to him. "You are being self-centered. Why can't you understand Levi's point of view? Yes, you may have had it hard… but we all go through things. No matter what you do, just remember that he will continue to look up to you. Because a child will always worship their mothers as if they were goddesses."

"Eren is right," I added. "But I refuse to let Hanji and Isabel die because of a mistake that I made. They have nothing to do with this." With that, Eren looked around and noticed that Mikasa was gone, yet he kept it to himself. In no time, Hanji began to cry and demanded that I chose my cousin, for she was blood. She believed it was only fair that she be blown away rather than Isabel. My cousin, however, wasn't afraid of my mother. She told me to not be manipulated by my creator because she was scared of what I was truly capable of doing.

My mother became impatient. "God dammit! Choose one of them already so I can watch you suffer!"

I knelt to the floor and picked up my gun that I was forced to drop when the soldiers came in, and then pointed it towards my head. "No. I'm done playing games. If you so much as pull the trigger on any of them, I will kill myself. That way, everyone else in this room will be able to witness you breaking down and grieving over my dead body, just as they had to with _their_ loved ones!"

She shook her head and didn't believe me. But I knew her too well; deep inside, she was afraid of losing me. "You and I both know that won't be happening anytime soon. You are just a coward!"

Just then, somebody had pulled the fire alarms. All of the soldiers searched for whoever pulled it while a loud siren filled our ears. That's when I remembered that Mikasa had somehow disappeared from the crowd. Then, as if I spoke of the devil, I saw Mikasa herself sprint towards my mother and she tackled her to the ground like a football player. Once they were on the ground, Eren spun around after taking his weapon and shot the soldier holding onto him, triggering a massive fight between my mother's men and my team. Isabel escaped from the soldier's grasp and used the small knives in her belt to fight him with complex skill. I saw Connie and his friend Sasha again, who must have helped Mikasa, also defending themselves from the soldiers. The miniature war in the room was so noisy that I almost forgot the alarm siren was on.

I punched my way through in order to get to my wife, who remained on the floor shielding her head. I helped her up and ran through the combating crowd to bring her into the hall where it was safer. When I let her go, she slumped to the ground and yelled in pain. I instantly checked on her hoping she wouldn't be injured, yet she bled from a gunshot wound on her thigh. Hanji had been caught in the cross fire. "Shit, you're bleeding!" I cried and took my sweater off to wrap it around her injury.

"Ah, god!" Hanji cried again, trying to tolerate the pain as much as possible. "No kidding!"

"I need to get you out of here." I tried to think of something that would help her, when she took my hand. I glanced at her to see what was the matter.

"Levi," she exhaled. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything I did to you!"

"We went through this on the bus," I told her.

She nodded, and became afraid. "I know, but… now that I'm hurt, I just realized how… how much I don't want to leave your side. I don't want to leave this world knowing how much damage I've caused. I hate what I did… and I'm so sorry that you had to witness your mother become a monster. I just want you to know that I truly had feelings for you. And I still do… I'm not ready to leave."

I shook my head. I knew she was scared of dying on me and leaving me alone. But her wound wasn't necessarily life-threatening. "You're going to be fine, Hanji."

"I'm serious!"

"I understand," I replied. She had already apologized to me, but I refused to forgive her at first. Now that she was faced with a life or death situation, she realized how important I was in her life. And frankly, she was important to me as well. She proved to me that she could change even when she saved me at the house from an intruder. No matter what, she did everything she could to make things right between us. She gave my life some kind of meaning. I couldn't continue holding grudges if the other person was willing to make ends meet. I looked into her brown, genuine eyes as the fuzzy feeling in my stomach began to come back again. "I shouldn't have gotten angry with you without listening first. I can see that you are being sincere. I forgive you, Hanji."

My wife smiled at me and hugged me after giving me a big smooch on my cheek. I blinked and tried not to turn red as she released me in order to move back against the wall due to the increased pain coming from her thigh.

Eventually, I heard someone run out of the door, but I did not look up to see who did. Soon Isabel found us and stumbled into the hallway as well. "Levi!"

"What is it?" I stood up.

She was out of breath. "Your mom literally just escaped!"

I felt like an idiot. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes! She's heading to the front entrance of the building right now!"

I looked down at Hanji, who was also concerned. I told her I would be back, and she told me to come back safe. "Protect her at all costs, Isabel! She's injured!" I said, pointing at my wife.

My cousin understood. "Anything for my family."

I picked up my weapon and ran for it. I was not going to let my mother run away from the situation. I found the stairwell and sprinted down the steps until I arrived at the ground floor. Perhaps I could change her perspectives and get inside her head. She had nobody for so many years, and I made it worse for her by leaving. She needed me more than I needed her.

Out of breath, I made it outside where the cold air bit my skin. "Mom!" I screamed. I looked up, and there she was in the distance with her back facing me.

"Don't you leave!"


	17. The Snow

****Sorry for the long wait.****

 **Warning: possible feels? :')**

* * *

"You better stay right where you are!"

I pointed my gun toward the woman standing a few inches away from me. I was not going to let her leave after what she had done to us. She was my creator. She was once my role model. She taught me everything there is to know about being a civilized human being. But I did not know her anymore. The deepest, darkest parts of her mind had manifested into a threatening fiend in humanoid form. The little sense of hope in my heart that I received whenever I looked up to her, was now nonexistent. And it was all my fault. Or was it, really?

"Don't move, or else," I shouted at my mother, whose hair flew with the wind. She stood perfectly still without trying to face me once and for all. "You can't run forever."

"Are you going to shoot me?" I heard her ask out loud.

"I will if I have to."

She chuckled. "I admire how independent you have grown to be, Levi. I suppose leaving at eighteen years old taught you many things… like how to kill your own blood without feeling any remorse."

"Please," I scoffed. "You were just about to execute your own niece a few minutes ago."

"Very true." My mother smiled and decided to turn around. She soon observed her surroundings and kept her hands in her skirt pockets. "What a pleasant winter day. It almost reminds me of the good times we used to have. I remember how you used to giggle when you threw snowballs at me."

I did have vivid memories of what she described. It wasn't perfect back then, but there were moments where it was fun while it lasted. I made sure to pay attention to her every move and went right to it. "Why are you doing this, mom? What is it that you are trying to achieve?"

The woman frowned and finally looked straight at me from afar. "I just want one simple thing… something that I have been rejected from my entire life."

"Oh, and what's that? _Love?_ _Respect?_ " I questioned.

My mother shook her head. "Control."

"Please. Haven't you done enough?"

"No," She simply answered. "You don't understand. Unlike you… I was never given a chance to do the things I wanted to do. My life was always in the hands of others. I had hopes and dreams… but they were constantly stolen from me. And by who? Worthless scum like your father. Ever since I got rid of him, I've been doing me. And you were never there to help."

" _You_ did this to me!" I cried. " _You_ are the one who made things worse!"

My mother shook her head, smiling again. She tried to approach me but I demanded her to stay away. "Perhaps your right," she continued. "But… now you know how I feel. However, after all these years of suffering… we managed to escape the pain and hardships and unite again."

I didn't understand what my mother was trying to get at. "Just stop. Why is it so hard for you to give up? Revenge has taken full control of your body, all because you couldn't move on and work hard to improve your life. I want this to end, mom. I don't want any more of our people to kill each other over _our_ problems. I'm sick and tired of watching innocent people suffer because of you. This needs to stop. One way or another, I _will_ end this… regardless of how you feel."

"Levi," My mother sighed. "Can't you see? We are the same. We want similar things. Even though we have different perspectives and goals. We have the same spirit… but different minds. It pisses me off… but, I think I'm beginning to realize something."

"And what's that?"

My mother chuckled and looked up. The sky was completely white, and little flurries of snow began to fall from above. Then, she remembered something. "You left before a snowstorm…"

I tightened my grip on the gun. "What did you realize?" I yelled. My mother faced me again and finally revealed her left hand from her pocket. In her hand was something rectangular and metallic… an object that gave me bad instincts. "W-what is that? In your hand?" I asked, refusing to let my guard down.

"My little Duckling… I think you may be right." She began. "I don't want to fight you. I don't want either of us to get hurt over something so miniscule. After all… the past is in the past. At the end of the day… nothing else matters. All I truly wanted… was to see you again. My beautiful son."

I narrowed my eyes. I did not like where this was going. "You're finally having a change of heart, I see?"

"I wouldn't call it a change of heart." My mother said, and fiddled with the object in her hand. "Atonement is a better word." She opened the object and showed me the red button that was inside it. I grew uneasy and put my finger beside the trigger as she approached me. "Stay away from me!"

My mother ignored my warning. "Don't worry, Levi. I won't hurt you… never again. And I hope that you don't do the same."

"I said stay _away_ from me!" I backed away nervously.

"All these years of living on my own paid off," My mother continued, ignoring me while holding up the object for me to see. "I was finally able to make my dreams come true. I had full control of my life, as well as the lives of many other people… including your wife, your cousin, and _all_ your little friends. I realize now that instead of ruining my life, you made it worthwhile, Levi, by leaving me that day. And here you are now, so desperately trying to be a hero. I'd hate to burst your bubble, but… well… you are not a hero. Not you, not Hanji, not Isabel… not even Eren Jaeger, the young man who inspired you to be strong the most. You don't understand the work I put into this. You do not understand that I am the one who will save this godforsaken society. And yes, I have made mistakes… I have killed… I have wronged… but none of that matters anymore, for it is time to atone for what we have done. When I press this button… this disgusting society that we have come to know will start over. I will wipe out all the sin and scum that lurks all throughout Downtown and rebuild it into a utopia, where it will be free of any devastation. This facility will be no more, as well; I will recreate a new system that will be much better. Once I press this button… I will finally have brought my vision to light. Laws will change… ribbons will be cut. My voice _will_ be heard… once and for all."

"You're fucking _insane_!" I screamed with disbelief. My mother had completely lost it. It was not about me anymore… she was angry at everyone who treated her poorly. She was upset at the whole world because she never got a chance to live in her own world. But I understood her pain. I knew what it was like to have everything precious stolen. Watching her turn into monster as a child was hard enough. But that did not give her the right to destroy everything around her. She sickened me. "I can't fucking believe you! I don't even know who you are anymore! That little vision of yours is genocide, mom! _Genocide_! Thousands will die! Families! Children! It's no wonder you wanted to take me here… seeing me for the last time before converting into a terrorist was on your bucket list!"

The flurries falling from the sky turned into fully developed snowflakes and dropped slightly harder. I heard the entrance doors of the building slam open. "Genocide…what a harsh word." My mother shivered. "I'm no terrorist. Think of me as… a savior."

"Please," I begged her. My arms grew weary from pointing the heavy gun at her, but I did not care. "I don't want to hurt you."

She glanced at me and rested her left hand. "Come with me, then. Join me. Stay by my side and help me create a better world. We can do so much together… because like I said before, we are the same."

I just shook my head. "No… no… never."

"But I thought you loved me."

"Fuck you!" My heart raced and my eyes grew watery. I did not mean that at all. I heard someone calling for me at the entrance doors, but I disregarded their presence. I wasn't going to let my mother manipulate me. "I'll never join you…"

With that, my mother stared at me with no emotions left in her body. She raised her left hand again, holding the detonator high for me to see. "Then I suppose you'll go down with them."

I put my finger on the trigger. "If you push that button, I will have no other choice but to shoot you!"

"I don't care. I lived _my_ way. And I'll die _my_ way." As soon as she closed her mouth, my mother pushed the button without any hesitation.

And I pulled the trigger.

The snow fell harder and the wind steadily picked up. The little red dot on my mother's stomach spread all over her shirt as she coughed up her own blood. She fell to her knees and clutched onto her wound, and before she could fall face first, I dropped my gun and caught her in my arms. I held her tightly and stroked her hair. "I'm sorry," I whispered in her ear, doing everything I could to hold back my tears. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

My creator struggled to breath, but somehow managed to wrap her arms around me. "My… my little Duckling… how… could you?"

"I'm sorry…"

"I forgive you," she then told me. "For everything…"

"I'm sorry," I repeated myself.

"Levi… I never… I never hated you…"

I couldn't hold back any longer. "Mom… you idiot… I will always love you… no matter what."

"Go… protect your wife," she said, releasing me. "Go to Isabel and your friends… There's still time… goodbye…my Duckling."

I just told her to be quiet and watched the snowflakes land in her hair. I never thought I'd be holding my mother that way. The one person who I still believed in despite everything that went on. But rather than recalling the bad times, I thought of the simpler days I used to have with her. I made sure to never forget the memories, because those were the ones that defined her the most.

She quietly choked on her blood a bit more until her breathing pattern slowed. "It's okay… I'm still here." I reassured her until her very last breath. I felt her pulse; her body was still warm, but her soul was no longer inside of her. My tears made their way down my cheeks as I squeezed my eyes shut. The cold wind finally began to bite at my skin and I shivered while holding my mother's limp body close to keep it warm. I took her life… there was no going back. I will never hear her voice again. I will never be able to look into her eyes again.

I only hoped that her soul went to a place where she could be at peace with herself.

"Levi!" A woman's voice screamed behind me. I looked over my shoulder. There was Hanji, stumbling toward me despite her injury. And not too far behind her was Eren, Mikasa, and my cousin. I found myself reaching out my hand for my wife to take after laying my mother's body on the ground. With arms wide open, Hanji ran over and threw herself forward, meeting me with an embrace. And I watched the others coming after us through the falling snowflakes.

Then, a flash of light filled my vision. A wave of heat rushed over our bodies, causing us to fall to the ground. The ground rumbled as if an entity of some sort began the apocalypse. And for a split second, I saw the ashes flowing alongside the snowflakes in the orange sky, before falling into darkness.

Hanji was still in my arms.


	18. The Stranger

**Hi there! I'm so sorry yet again for the wait. I hope you enjoy this very much, and have a happy July 4th. (Its midnight right now where I live, haha.)**

 **And I might make an epilogue, so please don't cry yet. :3  
**

* * *

 _"_ _At approximately 3:27pm today, tragedy struck as ten buildings in Downtown collapsed in fiery explosions, including a hospital, a high school, and a mall. The first bombing took place at the Mayor's Headquarters. Authorities have confirmed that the mayor of Downtown is deceased, although by a bullet wound, and further investigations are taking place as we speak. The bombings resulted in the death toll rising to the thousands, while the discovery of injured civilians continues to rise. Authorities believe this event is an act of terrorism. Five individuals, three women and two men, were found alive yet unresponsive with the deceased mayor and have been taken to the hospital, where police hope to question them upon awakening. The survivors of this disaster are desperate for justice and yearn for an answer to their question: 'what did we do to deserve this?'"_

* * *

My eyelids fluttered and finally let the light in as I first squinted, and then looked around at my surroundings. On the ceiling were rectangular light fixtures, but they were off. Instead, a luminescence coming from a lamp dimmed the room enough to make me feel safe. I sat myself up once I realized that there was a plastic mask on my face and a heart monitor clipped to my finger. Everything was deathly quiet, except for the oxygen tank that hummed in intervals, like an electric fan. After pulling the mask off, I noticed that my bed sat alongside a window. A dark curtain had fallen over the land, twinkling stars decorating the atmosphere. Below it was city lights… although down on the ground were vehicles flashing red, white and blue.

"What time is it…?" I whispered to myself, and looked at my hands.

I turned my head towards the exit, when a nurse dressed in blue walked in. "Oh, you're awake," she smiled happily and came over to me to check on whatever injuries I had. I glanced at her, squinting in confusion. "Hey… how long have I been here?" I asked quietly.

"Nine hours," The nurse told me. "It's midnight right now."

I thought about what she just said, and felt my forehead. "It's… it's so late…"

The nurse observed me and grew concerned for some reason. "Can you tell me your full name?"

I blinked. "My name is… Levi Ackerman."

"Very good… now, do you remember how you got here?"

"I…" Just as I was about to explain myself, my train of thought vanished. I narrowed my eyebrows, trying to shovel my way into the back of my mind. Yet each time I attempted to dig deeper, an invisible barrier blocked the path and prevented me from going any further. It was as if everything once I knew had been sucked out of my head by force, like a black hole. I shook my head and turned to the nurse, who waited patiently. "I… I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" She tilted her head.

"No… I just… I can't think of anything…"

"Do you at least remember your wife's name?"

My wife. "Her name…" I shook my head again. I should know, because I married her. But I couldn't even imagine her face. How could I forget such an important detail? Fuck, what was my wife's name? What was it?

I covered my face, growing frustrated. "I don't know… I don't know…"

"It's okay," the nurse touched my shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If you want, I will bring you to her. She really wants to see you."

"Really?" I asked. The lady nodded with a smile and decided to help me stand up. I moved the covers out of the way and held her hand as I shifted my legs to the edge of the bed, and carefully stood up. I grabbed the IV pole and brought it with me as the nurse guided me towards the exit. Once we made it through, I noticed the two security guards standing in the hall. They stared at me with such shade… but the nurse told me not to worry about them, so I ignored the men. Did I do something illegal?

There were nurses of both genders racing up and down the halls pushing carts and wheelchairs despite it being late at night, dealing with patients who seemed to be heavily injured. I saw doctors walking from room to room with somber expressions on their faces as if they witnessed traumatizing things. And when we passed by the waiting room, there were police officers doing everything they could to keep the patients' family members calm. The families cried and wept, shouted in anger, and cursed at the officers who knew they could do nothing to help. It was midnight, yet the hospital was in the middle of a crisis.

The nurse eventually brought me to a new room at the end of the following hallway, and stopped to open the door. "Here we are," she said, and I followed her inside. She opened the curtain that hid the rest of the room and called, "Hanji, your husband is here to see you."

There she was, sitting upright on the hospital bed watching the night unfold through the glass of the window, her loose brown hair touching her shoulders. When she heard her name, the woman who was supposed to be my wife turned her head toward us. Her eyes immediately started to shine behind her glasses. Somehow, she seemed perfectly unharmed, although there were crutches leaning against the wall. "Levi!"

The nurse allowed me to come closer, so I did. But no matter how much my wife smiled, I just wasn't familiar with her. "Are you my wife…?"

She giggled. "Don't play that game on me. Of course I am!"

"Oh…" I looked at the floor, trying to recall any memory of her.

Then, she frowned. "Do you truly not remember me? It's me, Hanji."

I shook my head, and the nurse decided to leave us alone. My wife remained silent for a while, until she asked me to sit on the bed with her. "Hanji," I repeated myself.

"Do you remember what happened earlier?" She asked again.

"I don't know anything…"

"Wow…" She was in disbelief. "You must be suffering from some sort of amnesia, then… how about your cousin, Isabel? And Eren? Do you recall who they are?"

"No."

"How about your mother…?"

I shook my head again and said nothing, feeling horrible. I wished that I could regain my memories so that I could ease her worry. Hanji suddenly took my hand and pointed out the circular scar on my wrist. "You see that?" She then asked. "You got that on the day we were married. I have the same thing, see?" She showed me her wrist that had the exact same scar on it. "It means that we will be matched, forever. You and I got along very well for an entire month, and we learned about each other. You were persistent when it came to my past. You always wanted to learn everything I had been through because you thought it was fair. I nearly burned your house down once while trying to make breakfast, and instead of getting upset, you brought me to a café. You protected me when an intruder came to our house, and in return, I saved your life. When I had thought that you needed to be seduced for our marriage to work, you nearly threw up and told me to not worry about those things. And, you brought me to the mall one day and we looked for matching Christmas sweaters. You and I helped a little boy named Armin find his grandpa. And you bought me a necklace that had my birthstone on it. I meant everything to you, and you never wanted to admit it. We were happy, until bad people started to come after us."

"Wow…" I did not know how to react, so I stared at my scar. But I felt the emotion behind her words. "Tell me more."

Hanji continued. "Soon, your cousin, Isabel, saved our lives and vowed to protect us. She was a part of an organization where they saved people from the government. And that's when we met Eren. He was the leader and allowed us both to be a part of his team. He had a plan to assassinate the mayor, and that was what we did earlier. But the plan… it wasn't perfect. You see… we found the mayor, and she turned out to be your mother."

"My mother," I thought out loud. Miraculously, I recalled what she looked like. And she was beautiful. "I remember… her name is Kuchel."

"Right," Hanji nodded, but remained serious. "But… I used to be her spy. My job was to watch over you by marriage and send bad people to get you if you ever disobeyed any rules. When you found out, you were angry… so angry. But despite the many times I told you how much of a horrible person I was, you chose to forgive me. And your mother… she was upset. She killed your abusive father long ago after you moved out at the age of eighteen, and took his government job. She had always wanted to see you again, but to suffer the same way she had to. Your mother asked you of whom you love more: me, or Isabel. And of course, you could not choose. You threatened to commit suicide if either one of us got hurt by her. You did everything you could to reason with her. But she would not listen… and as a result, she blew up several buildings across this city."

Then it hit me. Widening my eyes, a memory flashed before me. I suddenly remembered some of the days when I was a child, and how my mother used to smile whenever she saw my face. I remembered the warmth of her hugs. I remembered the countless fights between my parents, and how it would leave my mother bruised up. I remembered listening to my mother cry all night long knowing that I could do nothing to help. And I remembered leaving her because I wanted to escape from a broken home. She wanted revenge, and earlier, I held my mother's body in the middle of an incoming snowstorm. "I… I killed her."

Hanji nodded and took my hands. "Yes."

I was so confused that my eyelids became flooded. "Am I a murderer?"

"You did what you thought was best for society."

"But all of those people… the families…"

"It's unfortunate. I know." Hanji looked out of the window again. "The terror she brought amongst these people is unforgivable. But as bad as it seems… we still won."

"How can that be possible? I murdered my own blood… that doesn't make anything better!"

My wife grabbed my shoulders. She didn't want me to blame myself. "Nobody could have possibly known what was going to happen next. You never wanted to shoot her in the first place and not once have you despised her existence. But things happen for a reason, and perhaps this was meant to be. So it isn't your fault, Levi. _She_ chose that path… and she earned the consequences. The most important part is that we are alive, together, and that you still remember your mom for the love that she gave you… not what she turned into."

I looked at my hands again and tried to understand. The fact that so many civilians died… it pained me. "That still doesn't change the fact that… so many innocents had to be involved. I wish there was something I could have done differently."

"True…" Hanji replied, and suddenly touched my cheek with a warm, affectionate smile. "But had you done things differently, we never would've met."

Out of nowhere, my stomach felt strange. It was a fuzzy sensation that made me highly uncomfortable. But somehow, I was familiar with it. I knew it happened whenever I was with my wife… and little by little, I recollected the happy times we shared together and the things we went through. "You're right, I guess..."

"After what happened earlier," Hanji continued, "When you held me in your arms while the building became engulfed with flames… I promised myself that if we survived the disaster, I would tell you how I really feel. And now that we're here, knowing that we've won by simply overcoming many complications and differences… I can finally be at peace by being honest."

The feeling grew stronger. "Honest how…?"

My wife pulled me close. "I love you."

Before I could say another word, she softly pressed her lips against mine. In an instant, I realized how much she meant to me. Although being matched with her was just a part of a plan, I didn't regret leaving from my parents' home. Had I stayed any longer, Hanji would have never existed in my life.

"Knock-knock, lovebirds!" Another female's voice cried. We quickly stopped what we were doing and saw a redhead with pigtails walking through the door, along with a young man with long hair, a girl with a red scarf around her neck, and a little boy who would not leave her side. They all looked like they went to Hell and back. Another man in a suit had come in with them, yet did not seem intimidating.

"Who are you…?" I asked them.

The redhead came over to me and gave me a tight hug. "Ah, the nurse told us you wouldn't remember anything… but I'm always going to be your Little Sister, Isabel!"

The little boy couldn't help it either. "I'm so happy that you're okay!"

I turned to Hanji, who helped me identify who was who by pointing at and saying their names. Then, after I took a good look at their faces, I glanced back at the girl who hugged me. "So you're my cousin, huh? Kind of annoying…" I thought out loud, although teasingly.

"Don't worry. I told him everything," Hanji mentioned to Eren, and he nodded.

"It's good to see that you're alright," he then said, referring to me.

I knew I could trust each one of them as my own family, thanks to what my wife told me. "Okay… but who is that man in the suit?"

"After we woke up," Mikasa began, "The police questioned us. We told them everything, and they asked about your relationship with the mayor, your mother."

Eren decided to continue for her. "When he found out you were related to her, this man immediately wanted to speak with you. He apparently used to work for the government."

The man in the suit then came up to me and shook my hand. I did not know how to respond, so I said nothing to him. "It's such a pleasure to meet you," he said. "The state is in total anarchy right now, and without a leader, nothing can be done to stop it. However… you are the next of your bloodline, and from what I have heard about you and what you and your friends have done to help change the lives of innocent people… I think you'd fit perfectly into the role of leadership."

"You want _me_ to be the next mayor…?" I asked the man, dumfounded. The man nodded, and I glanced at everyone else in the room, including my wife. Their faces felt familiar to me, yet they all were lost in the deepest part of my mind; a place I couldn't seem to reach. But I knew they meant no harm. "I don't remember a thing… how would I know how to run a society like this?"

"Well," Eren said, coming over to me. "The nurse said that you're most likely suffering from dissociative amnesia. As long as you're around us, I'm sure you'll regain your memories."

Hanji took my hand again. "Think of it this way. By being the mayor, you are in charge of making all of the rules. You will help these poor civilians rebuild what they lost and heal. All of those forced marriages… they could be reversed, allowing people to unite with their true lovers. No child will ever be separated with their families again. And we, including everyone else in this room, can live our lives the way we want. If you do this, Levi, I will do it with you. You have my word."

Overwhelmed, I could not decide on an answer. Everything was happening too fast despite just being woken up from a coma. I wanted to go home with my wife and recover… but, the thought of being a leader did interest me. Should my memories return, I could use that information to make life better for not only the people of the city, but for my friends and my family. Because they were the only ones I had.

"Tell you what," The man in the suit said. He took out a small card from his pocket and handed it to me. It had his name and phone number on it. "Take some time with your friends and your wife and think about it. When you're ready to make a decision, call that number. I'll be waiting." The man winked and soon walked out of the room.

I stared at the rectangular card while everyone else smiled at me. This is a reward, I thought. It would be a difficult decision to make… but knowing the support system I had, I would not be alone. I began to have faith in myself; I knew I had always pushed through the hard times, because we were all in that room, alive and in good shape. If it wasn't for my part, I probably would have lost them, and the society we lived in could have gotten worse. And even though my mother sought revenge… I knew she would want me to change the world for the better.

"Guys…" I softly began, catching everyone's attention. It would be a while before I remember everything that happened earlier. But at the end of the day, it wasn't my main concern anymore. I had to move on.

Grateful that we were able to win, I smiled happily. "Thank you."


	19. Epilogue- The Present

I was still in the process of regaining my memories. But the one thing that I could not seem to forget was how much of a holiday spirit my wife had. I still had the picture of both of us in front of the decorated water fountain at the mall. And now that it was Christmas day, Hanji decided to go all out. We spent the entire morning decorating the entire house, and the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. It was quite frustrating, due to the amount of times Hanji burned her so-called experimental recipes that she begged me to let her make. Our friends and my cousin would be arriving with dishes of their own, so it was pivotal for us to make one of our own. There became a point where we finally made a decision on the dish we wanted to share. However, Hanji, trying to make a chocolate dessert from scratch, ended up causing it to somehow burst all over us while trying to mix ingredients. As she laughed hysterically, I yelled at her for being such an idiot... but I couldn't deny that her laughter made everything better.

Later that evening, the others made it to our house with their dishes. It was just the five of us: Me, my wife, Eren, Isabel, and Mikasa who brought sugar cookies for dessert. It was best that it only be us five, and no one else. I observed them as they conversed about several things at once, fooling around as the result of drinking a bit too much. Watching them made me feel safe and warm inside. Although recovering from amnesia, a piece of my life had always been missing since childhood… and thanks to them, I was able to find it again. Just by seeing their happy faces.

It has been two weeks. Two weeks since the explosions that took thousands of innocent lives… the day I killed my own flesh and blood. Ever since that day, vigils have been taking place for each one of the victims. Civilians protested both peacefully and violently throughout Downtown, demanding a reform. Riots occurred in every corner of the street, signaling a state of emergency which resulted in temporary martial law. Me, Eren, and the others were called to be interviewed on live television, and we told the entire world the truth about everything the government had been doing to their people. Although I did not recall certain things, I had admitted that I was the one who ended the reign of the mayor's terror. And in just one day, society viewed us all as saviors. After thinking long and hard, I made the decision to become the next mayor… with Hanji and Eren's help, of course. And I was to begin going into office on the day after Christmas. I was just afraid that I was going to bite off more than I could chew.

It's strange, really. It's strange to think about how I ended up at the top of the chain. Hell, just yesterday I was crawling around on my hands and knees while listening to heated arguments. Time really does fly by… and to think I considered ending it all. Despite all the pain and suffering… I made it. _We_ made it, together.

Eventually, we all finished dinner and decided to open presents in the living room. Hanji had bought a gift for each one of us just the night before and could not wait for us to open them. gifts. "This one is for you and Armin!" Hanji cried, giving a present to Mikasa. The raven-haired girl grinned and thanked my wife. "What is it?" Isabel hovered over her friend.

"It's a box of mini teddy bears," Mikasa breathed after opening her gift. She took one out and touched her face with it, so she won't show her embarrassment. "It's so soft. Thank you… I'll be sure to give him one."

Hanji shrugged. "You're welcome. Isabel told me you loved collecting those." Next, she picked up another present and gave it to my cousin.

"I wonder what it could be," Isabel said and ripped up the wrapping paper like a child would. She then saw that it was a sparkly, black leather jacket and nearly squealed. "How did you know?!"

"Levi once told me that you were a huge fan of an idol and that you always tried to be like him." Hanji replied.

My cousin turned so red that she looked like she was about to explode. "Pfft, I never did that!"

"You seem like the type of person who would be a stalker fan," I said, just to tease her.

Isabel threw a pillow at me. "Screw you, Levi."

Hanji then continued and gave Eren his present. "Here! This is for you."

"Oh, okay… thank you." He blinked and took it without smiling. We all watched him open it, and the small present turned out to be a key pendant. He was in awe, yet did not understand the meaning behind it. "Thank you… but if I may ask, why a key?"

Hanji giggled and smiled at him with innocent eyes. "Because you were the key that brought us all together!"

Eren suddenly blushed just as much as Isabel did and pretended to cough to take the attention off him. "Fuck, that's adorable."

I just shook my head and picked myself up to go wash the dirty dishes we left on the table when Hanji grabbed my hand. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"I'm just going to… clean up."

She held up a small, rectangular box. "Did you really think I forgot about you?"

I said nothing and gently took the box from her, not expecting a gift from her. I sat back down and folded my legs as I carefully opened it. "It's a necklace…" I said to myself.

"It's not just any necklace," Hanji replied. "It has your birthstone on it."

I then realized what day it was. "How… how did you know?"

"A little birdie told me that your birthstone is a blue topaz."

She got up to help put it on around my neck, and I couldn't look at her. "I didn't even get you anything…"

"It's fine." Hanji suddenly gave me a hug. "You gave me enough. Happy birthday."

I hugged her back and the little fuzzy feeling returned. "Thank you," I said, and remembered something. "If only she were here to see this…"

"Hey," Hanji glanced at me. "It'll be alright. I know you're still grieving over your mom but… if you keep doing so, you'll never be able to move on. She'll always be in your memories."

I nodded. "I know."

"You may have lost one person… but you still have us. We're always going to be together, no matter what." Hanji held both of my hands and smiled with confidence. I studied her, and soon glanced at everyone else. My wife was right. In my home were people whom I have grown to love. Despite everything that went on, these people believed in me and stuck by me through thick and thin, even though it hasn't been very long.

"You're right," I said to my wife and decided to take her hand. She frowned and watched me curiously as I went one knee. Everyone else stood up in disbelief and hovered behind Hanji, waiting for me to speak again. "If it means moving on, I'll do it." I continued. "How about we start over? I may not remember every little detail, but… you freed me. You did everything for me… and while mistakes were made… you made up for it in the end. Including everyone else in this room. So… let's start over and do things our way from now on."

Hanji blinked, expecting something else, yet still looked happy. "Of course, Levi. I'll be ready when you are."

I stood up. "And… I never answered you when we were at the hospital."

"What do you mean?" Hanji tilted her head.

I hesitated a bit, knowing that it would be hard for me to say. "I… I love you too." By the time I faced her again, my wife's eyes were flooding with tears while her cheeks grew rosy.

"Huh?!" Everyone else cried in unison.

My wife was exaggerating. "D-d-do you really mean it?!"

I folded my arms and turned away from them to hide my awkwardness. "Yeah, I did, okay? You're such a crybaby. My _god_."

Hanji took me by surprise and hugged me from behind. "Best present ever!"

I had always hated the idea of love and family and the idea of being committed to a relationship. But now that we won over our broken society, we finally had a chance to pick up the broken pieces and put them back to the way they used to be. Had I never left my home that day… I never would have met Hanji and achieved anything. I treasured Hanji and the others as the family I never had.

With Hanji, life was bound to get better... and I was willing to spend the rest of my life with her.

 **The End**

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 **It is finally finished! Ahhhh thank you all so much for supporting me throughout this story. I have gained so much confidence just by reading your reviews and it just makes me feel proud to be in a fandom that supports one another. I'll be working on my other story Asche Im Himmel for now, but you can expect a new LeviHan series in the future... ;)  
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 **Thank you for reading. Love you guys ^-^**


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